Crude oil futures settled near 4-week lows on Thursday, as higher U.S. crude inventories and easing worries about U.S.-Iran standoff pushed down prices for a second straight session.
However, unlike in the previous session, crude oil's decline was just marginal when the session ended.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for February ended down $0.05, or 0.03%, at $59.56 a barrel, coming off the session's low of $58.66 a barrel.
On Wednesday, WTI crude oil futures for February ended lower by as much as $3.09, or 4.9%, at $59.61 a barrel.
Brent Crude futures edged down marginally to $65.41 a barrel on Thursday.
Data released by Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday said crude oil stockpiles in the U.S. rose 1.2 million barrels in the week ended January 3, as against expectations of a droop of about 3.6 million barrels.
The EIA data also showed gasoline inventories to have climbed up 9.1 million barrels in the week, more than three times the expected rise. Distillate stockpiles increased by about 5.3 million barrels.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said there were no casualties from Iran's Wednesday attack on U.S. forces in Iraq, and indicated the U.S. would hit Iran with new sanctions, but not respond militarily. Tehran said the strikes "concluded" its response to the Soleimani killing.
U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft told the UN that America stands "ready to engage without preconditions in serious negotiations with Iran, with the goal of preventing further endangerment of international peace and security or escalation by the Iranian regime".
On the trade front, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He is expected to travel to Washington to sign the first phase of the trade deal with the U.S. next week.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company - www.instaforex.com
source http://www.mt5.com/forex_news/quickview/2149675/
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