WTI oil futures off the highs with U.S. supply outlook in focus

Investing.com - West Texas Intermediate oil futures trimmed gains on Thursday, as concerns that U.S. shale production could rebound in the months ahead weighed.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for August delivery hit an intraday peak of $61.30 a barrel, before giving back some gains to trade at $60.50 during U.S. morning hours, up 17 cents, or 0.28%.

Government data released Wednesday showed that U.S. motor gasoline inventories rose by 0.5 million barrels last week, while distillate stockpiles increased by 0.1 million barrels.

Energy traders have been paying close attention to gasoline stockpiles in recent weeks as the U.S. driving season entered its peak gasoline demand period.

Total crude oil inventories fell by 2.7 million barrels last week to 467.9 million, compared to expectations for a drop of 1.7 million barrels to 468.9 million.

Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, increased by 112,000 barrels last week, compared to estimates for a drop of 850,000 barrels.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for August delivery inched up 23 cents, or 0.37%, to trade at $64.10 a barrel after hitting a daily high of $64.96.

The spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $3.60 a barrel, compared to $3.54 by close of trade on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.65% at 93.87, the lowest level since May 18.

The dollar weakened after the Federal Reserve lowered both its U.S. growth forecast and its interest-rate projections, prompting investors to push back expectations on the timing of an initial rate hike.

Data released Thursday showed that U.S. consumer prices increased by 0.4% last month, below forecasts for a gain of 0.5%. Year-over-year, consumer prices were flat in May.

Consumer prices, excluding food and energy costs, increased by 0.1% in May, missing expectations for a 0.2% increase. Core CPI rose at annualized rate of 1.7% in May, down from 1.8% in April.

A separate report showed that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits last week fell by 12,000 to 267,000 from the previous week’s total of 279,000. Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to fall by 2,000 to 275,000 last week.

Meanwhile, investors continued to monitor developments surrounding talks between Greece and its international creditors, amid growing concerns that the country could default on its debt be forced out of the euro zone.

Europe wants Greece to make spending cuts in order to secure a deal that will unlock €7.2 billion in bailout funds and prevent Athens defaulting on its debts when its bailout expires at the end of the month.

European finance ministers were to hold talks in Brussels later Thursday, but expectations for a deal were not high. Failure to strike a deal would result in Greece defaulting on payments and exiting the euro zone.