The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pumped 28.98 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude last month, the survey found, up 310,000 bpd from June’s revised total

The Group of Seven richest economies aim to have a price-capping mechanism on Russian oil exports in place by Dec. 5, when European Union sanctions banning seaborne imports of Russian crude come into force, a senior G7 official said

The Biden administration said it will sell an additional 20 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as part of a previous plan to tap the facility to calm oil prices boosted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and as demand recovers from the pandemic

NEW YORK, July 21 (Reuters) – Oil prices were down about $3 a barrel on Thursday on higher U.S. gasoline stockpiles and after a European Central Bank (ECB) rate hike stoked demand worries, while returning oil supply from Libya and the resumption of Russia’s gas flows to Europe eased supply concerns.

Brent crude futures lost $2.44, or 2.3%, to $104.48 a barrel by 12:24 p.m. EDT (1624 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down $3.06, or 3.1%, at $96.82 after a 1.9% drop.

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Both were down more than $5 earlier in the session.

U.S. gasoline futures fell 15 cents, or 4.5%, to $3.13 a gallon following a jump of 3.5 million barrels of the commodity in storage last week, U.S. government data showed on Wednesday, far exceeding analyst forecasts. .

“Oil’s main protagonist is gasoline and the perceptions around gasoline demand destruction,” said Robert Yawger, executive director of energy futures at Mizuho.

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Oil futures trading volumes have also been thin and prices volatile as traders attempt to square weaker energy demand with tighter supply resulting from the loss of Russian barrels after the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Flows through Russia’s Nord Stream 1 natural gas pipeline, which runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany, partially resumed after being shut for maintenance on July 11. The pipeline had already run on reduced volumes following a dispute sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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“The resumption of Nord Stream gas flows appears to be conjuring up images of a more conciliatory posture on the part of Russia regarding continued movement of crude and products into Europe in the coming weeks/month,” said Jim Ritterbusch of Ritterbusch and Associates in a note. [nL1N2Z2080]

The European Central Bank on Thursday joined many other central banks in raising interest rates, focusing on fighting runaway inflation rather than the economic downturn, which can weigh on oil demand. read more

The Bank of Japan maintained ultra-low interest rates to stimulate stalling economic growth. read more

On Wednesday, Libya’s National Oil Corp (NOC) said crude production had resumed at several oilfields after the lifting of force majeure on oil exports last week.

One of Canada’s major oil export arteries, the Keystone pipeline, was operating at reduced rates for a third day on Wednesday, operator TC Energy said

U.S. crude oil stockpiles edged lower last week but gasoline inventories posted a larger-than-expected build on weakened demand, the Energy Information Administration said

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and Russian gas producer Gazprom signed a memorandum of understanding worth around $40 billion, Iran’s oil ministry’s news agency SHANA said

Oil output in the Permian in Texas and New Mexico, the biggest U.S. shale oil basin, is due to rise 78,000 barrels per day (bpd) to a record 5.445 million bpd in August, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its productivity report

OPEC expects international oil demand to rise in 2023 however at a slower tempo than 2022, the producer group said in its first forecast for subsequent 12 months, citing nonetheless strong financial progress and progress in containing COVID-19 in China

The closure of the CPC pipeline that carries oil from Kazakhstan to the Black Sea Russian export terminal in the port of Novorossiisk would shut in more than 1% of global oil supply

The oil and gas industry is “under siege” due to years of under-investment, the OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said, adding the resulting supply shortage could be eased if extra supplies from Iran and Venezuela were allowed to flow