Oil prices mixed amid economic slowdown worries, drop in US inventory

By Zeynep Beyza Kilic

ANKARA (AA) - Oil prices were mixed on Thursday with economic slowdown worries overshadowing a larger-than-expected drop in US crude inventories.

International benchmark Brent crude traded at $82.68 per barrel at 09.14 a.m. local time (0614 GMT), up 0.02% from the closing price of $82.66 a barrel in the previous trading session.

At the same time, American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $76.67 per barrel, a 0.01% rise after the previous session closed at $76.66 a barrel.

US commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 0.4% during the week ending March 3, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.

Inventories fell by 1.7 million barrels to 478.5 million barrels, against the market expectation of a drop of 308,000 barrels.

The drop in oil inventories signaled a rise in demand in the US, the world's biggest oil consuming country, but remained insufficient to push oil prices higher.

Meanwhile, continued concerns about Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate hikes put pressure on prices. Experts worry that a further rise in interest rates would trigger a slowdown in economic growth.

Oil prices are under the influence of US Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments that rate hikes are “likely to be higher” than previously anticipated.