Oil slides

Singapore

Oil prices dipped on Friday following steep falls earlier this week, pressured by evidence of an ongoing fuel glut despite efforts led by OPEC to tighten the market by holding back production.

Brent crude was at $47.75 per barrel at 0647 GMT, down 11 cents from its last close. It puts Brent around 12 percent below its opening level on May 25, when an OPEC-led pledge to cut production was extended into 2018. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at $45.54, down 10 cents from the last close, and some 11 percent below May 25.The slump was a result of oversupply despite the effort led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut almost 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) of production until the first quarter of 2018."Crude oil prices are testing lows last seen in 4Q16 despite last month´s 9-month extension to the 1.8 million bpd cuts," U.S. bank Jefferies said, pointing to the United States as the main pressure on prices.