Oil eases

Reuters

Singapore

Oil futures dipped on Thursday after Saudi Arabia trimmed the price of its flagship crude to Asia, but were still near more than three-month highs following a drop in U.S. crude inventories.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $49.55 per barrel at 0544 GMT, down 28 cents or 0.6 percent from their last settlement.

International Brent futures were down 28 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $51.58 per barrel.

Both contracts hit their highest levels since June on Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said crude stockpiles fell 3 million barrels last week to 499.74 million barrels. 

Traders pointed to profit taking following recent price rises and said Thursday´s fall also reflected weaker physical crude after top exporter Saudi Arabia cut the price of its Arab Light crude to Asian customers for November in a sign that the global fuel supply overhang persists.