(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Oil prices extended gains Wednesday on a weaker dollar and expectations that US crude inventories have further declined, easing concerns about a global supply glut.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in June added 53 cents to $61.28 a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for June rose 36 cents to stand at $67.22 a barrel around midday in London.
Prices had surged on Tuesday owing to a weaker dollar that makes commodities such as oil that are denominated in the US unit cheaper for holders of stronger currencies.
Daniel Ang, investment analyst at Phillip Futures, said prices were supported also by expectations of a "further drop in US stockpiles this week".
The US Department of Energy (DoE) will release its crude stockpiles report for the week to May 8 later Wednesday.
Last week the DoE unexpectedly reported the first decline in commercial crude-oil stockpiles in 16 weeks, but still stockpiles, at 487.0 million barrels, remained at their highest level on record for that time of year.
Analysts are expecting another decline in Wednesday's report, with the consensus estimate of a fall of 250,000 barrels, according to a Bloomberg News survey.
Meanwhile a glut in the global oil market has not evaporated with other countries stepping up output while US shale producers have cut back owing to the sharp drop in prices since last year, the IEA said on Wednesday.
In its latest monthly report the International Energy Agency said that global oil supply remained flat at 95.7 million barrels per day (mbd) in April.
It said slowing US shale oil output was being offset by higher output from countries in the OPEC oil cartel as well as several non-OPEC nations.
Singapore-based Ang said dealers will also be monitoring total US production figures released in the DoE report. Last week's report showed production slipped marginally, by 4,000 barrels to 9.4 million barrels a day.
Dealers have been hoping that a slowdown in US shale output could help ease the build up of global crude reserves, which was a key reason for the collapse in prices of more than 50 percent between June and January.
"We again hope for production levels to drop to below 9.3 million barrels per day in order to see real change to the oversupply issue," Ang said.
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