Oil prices fall slightly as supply unaffected by threat of wider regional conflict

Oil prices fell slightly on Thursday evening, with global supply largely unaffected by concerns about the expansion of the conflict in the Middle East. Brent crude futures fell 67 cents, or 0.8 %, to $80.18 a barrel by the end of trading on Thursday. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 87 cents, or 1.1 %, to $77.06 a barrel. The two benchmark crude contracts had jumped about 4 % in the previous session as concerns about the expansion of the conflict in the Middle East increased. A meeting of OPEC+ ministers kept the current oil production policy unchanged, including the alliance's intention to gradually withdraw a package of production cuts starting in October. At its last meeting in June, the OPEC+ alliance agreed to extend cuts of 3.66 million barrels per day for a year until the end of 2025, with some countries gradually phasing out additional cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day over a year from October 2024 to September 2025. Oil prices were supported by data released by the US Energ y Information Administration on Wednesday, which showed that strong demand for exports pushed US crude oil inventories down by 3.4 million barrels in the week to July 26. Source: National Iraqi News Agency