Crude oil edged back from a five-week high on April 11, as rising U.S. shale oil production weighed against support from tensions in the Middle East and production cuts in OPEC and other states.
Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil, was down 8 cents from its previous close at $55.90 per barrel (bbl) at 7:25 a.m. CT (12:25 GMT). Earlier in the session, Brent had climbed to its highest since March 7 at $56.16/bbl.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell by 9 cents to $52.99/bbl, after touching a five-week high of $53.23/bbl.
Brent has risen in each of the previous six sessions, while WTI gained for the last five days.
U.S. crude inventories have touched record highs at both the U.S. storage hub of Cushing, Okla., and in the U.S. Gulf Coast in recent weeks, according to U.S. government data.
A Reuters poll of analysts forecast a rise in U.S. crude inventories for a fourth straight week.
Data from industry group American Petroleum Institute is due out on April 11, while figures the U.S. Energy Information Administration will be released on April 12.
Several factors still offered support to oil prices.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said his country's output cuts would reach 250,000 bbl/d by mid-April, TASS news agency reported. Another shutdown at Libya's largest field Sharara also kept oil off the market.
Russia was part of a deal between OPEC and other producing countries to cut output by 1.8 MMbbl/d in the first six months of 2017.
"We have seen quite an encouraging market," said Tamas Varga, analyst with PVM Oil Associates, adding the dip in prices on April 11 looked like a temporary pause. "This market should be going higher."
Tensions in the Middle East are also supporting prices, after last week's U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base. Syria produces only small volumes of oil, but the Middle East accounts for more than a quarter of the world's crude output.
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