Singapore
Oil dipped on Thursday on persistent worries about oversupply, but strong Chinese imports and signs that U.S. storage tanks are gradually being drained offered some support to prices.
Brent crude futures were at $47.70 per barrel at 0657 GMT, down 4 cents from their last close. WTI crude futures were down 3 cents at $45.46 per barrel.
The dips came after the International Energy Agency´s chief economist, Laszlo Varro, said that oil markets were still oversupplied.
"There is no doubt in the short term the market is oversupplied," Varro told Reuters on Thursday in Tokyo, adding that this was in part due to rising output from Kazakhstan´s giant Kashagan oil field. Also, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said late on Wednesday that the world would need 32.20 million bpd of crude from its members next year, down 60,000 bpd from this year, as consumers have increasing choices of supply from outside OPEC.
