Oil eases to below US$50 in USA

02-Mar-15

Oil prices eased after sharp gains were seen in the previous session as dealers predicted the end of volatile trading and beaten-down commodity bottoming out. This week, oil US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery dipped to US$49.3, while Brent crude eased to US$62.3. "Although there is still a global supply glut, oil prices are on a general increasing trend especially with the falling rig count numbers indicating that US shale is responding to low prices," Ken Hasegawa, of Newedge Group, told AFP. The weekly Baker Hughes US drilling rig count showed the number of rigs in operation fell by 33 to 986 in the week to February 27. The count is down 39% since October, according to Bloomberg News.