Investing.com - Crude oil futures slid in early Asian trading Thursday, extending losses sustained earlier when news broke that nations in the OPEC oil cartel agreed to hold production at 30 million barrels a day.
Analysts saw the decision as a commitment among member countries to continue stocking up inventories, which hikes supply and lowers prices amid a still limping global economy.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at USD94.91 a barrel in early in the session, down 0.04%.
The commodity hit a session high of USD95.14 and a low of 94.75 so far on Thursday.
On top of the OPEC announcement, the U.S. government said crude oil inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels in the week ended December 9, slightly lower than a forecast for 2 million barrels, while total gasoline inventories rose by 3.8 million barrels, above expectations for an increase of 1 million barrels, which further eased price pressures.
The U.S. Federal Reserve earlier this week left open the possibility that fresh monetary easing could be possible next year, which would flood markets with dollars and send oil prices climbing if it happened.
Still, market watchers pointed out, no decision now leaves little room for market moves today.
"There's a softer tone because of disappointment that the Fed didn't do anything, but they were never going to,'' said Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets, according to Reuters.
"The Fed are keeping their powder dry in case things in Europe get worse, because they will.''
Meanwhile the dollar, which often trades inversely from oil, was down slightly.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was off 0.04% at 81.22 on Thursday.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for February delivery were up 0.34%, trading at USD104.33 a barrel, up USD9.42 from its U.S. counterpart.
The gap in price between the two contracts hovers comfortably between a nearly USD20.00 all-time high and a historical spread of USD1.00.
Analysts saw the decision as a commitment among member countries to continue stocking up inventories, which hikes supply and lowers prices amid a still limping global economy.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at USD94.91 a barrel in early in the session, down 0.04%.
The commodity hit a session high of USD95.14 and a low of 94.75 so far on Thursday.
On top of the OPEC announcement, the U.S. government said crude oil inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels in the week ended December 9, slightly lower than a forecast for 2 million barrels, while total gasoline inventories rose by 3.8 million barrels, above expectations for an increase of 1 million barrels, which further eased price pressures.
The U.S. Federal Reserve earlier this week left open the possibility that fresh monetary easing could be possible next year, which would flood markets with dollars and send oil prices climbing if it happened.
Still, market watchers pointed out, no decision now leaves little room for market moves today.
"There's a softer tone because of disappointment that the Fed didn't do anything, but they were never going to,'' said Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets, according to Reuters.
"The Fed are keeping their powder dry in case things in Europe get worse, because they will.''
Meanwhile the dollar, which often trades inversely from oil, was down slightly.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was off 0.04% at 81.22 on Thursday.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for February delivery were up 0.34%, trading at USD104.33 a barrel, up USD9.42 from its U.S. counterpart.
The gap in price between the two contracts hovers comfortably between a nearly USD20.00 all-time high and a historical spread of USD1.00.