By Sam Li and Siyi Liu
BEIJING/SINGAPORE, Aug 13 (Reuters) – Oil prices dipped on Thursday as investors assessed prospects for weaker global demand this year, though they were underpinned by a lack of major progress in talks over the blockaded Strait of Hormuz and disruptions to supply.
Brent futures slipped 11 cents, or 0.12%, to $88.87 a barrel by 0624 GMT, trimming gains over the prior six sessions.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 16 cents, or 0.19%, to $83.11, after advancing over the past five sessions.
“Buyers continue to dominate in the short term, following the recovery over the past several sessions,” said Antonio Di Giacomo, a senior market analyst at XS.com.
“However, the speed of the advance could also trigger periods of volatility and profit-taking around current levels.”
The market was trying to determine if potential supply constraints from Middle East disruptions would be sufficient to offset possible moderation in global consumption, he added.
“This combination leaves WTI particularly sensitive to both geopolitical developments and new economic and energy data.”
On Wednesday a senior Iranian source said there had been no progress in talks to revive an interim deal agreed in June and define a timeframe to implement it.
With no change in the prospect of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the key driver of the past week’s higher prices, attention turned to the demand outlook after a surprise build in U.S. crude stocks and lower consumption forecasts from OPEC and the International Energy Agency.
U.S. commercial crude oil inventories made their largest weekly gain since January 2023 as exports slumped, data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday.
Crude inventories rose by 17.4 million barrels to 424.4 million in the week ended August 7, their highest since June 5, the EIA said, versus Reuters poll expectations for a 1.4 million-barrel draw.
On the same day, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries lowered its world oil demand growth forecast for 2026 to 580,000 barrels per day in its monthly oil market report.
The International Energy Agency said it expected a contraction of 1.6 million bpd in consumption this year, versus a forecast of 1 million bpd last month, with demand curtailed by higher prices and restricted supply due to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
Still, the deadlocked talks between Iran and the United States to end their war have kept a floor under prices.
“The safety situation for navigation in these waters has further deteriorated, forcing vessels to turn off their signals, which reduces transparency in shipping and makes it more difficult for the market to track and assess actual supply levels,” analysts at Haitong Futures said in a note.
(Reporting by Sam Li in Beijing and Siyi Liu in Singapore; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Sonali Paul and Clarence Fernandez)