Investing.com - Oil prices fell to a one-week low on Thursday, as traders looked ahead to the outcome of a key meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Counties in Vienna on Friday.
On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for July delivery hit an intraday low of $62.87 a barrel, the weakest level since May 29, before trading at $62.91 during U.S. morning hours, down 89 cents, or 1.4%.
A day earlier, London-traded Brent prices tumbled $1.69, or 2.58%, to end at $63.80 after a senior OPEC delegate said that there is "consensus" among Gulf OPEC countries to keep output levels unchanged above 30 million barrels per day, despite ongoing concerns over ample global supplies.
Elsewhere, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for July delivery fell to a daily low of $58.61, a level not seen since May 29, before trading at $58.63, down $1.01, or 1.69%.
On Wednesday, Nymex oil prices lost $1.62, or 2.64%, to close at $59.64 despite bullish U.S. oil inventory data.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels last week, the fifth straight weekly decline.
Market analysts' expected a crude-stock fall of 1.7 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported an increase of 1.8 million barrels.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 477.4 million barrels, remaining near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years.
Meanwhile, the spread between the Brent and the WTI crude contracts stood at $4.12 a barrel, compared to $4.16 by close of trade on Wednesday.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar index was up 0.15% at 95.49, moving off a more than two-week low of 94.68 hit earlier in the day.
The dollar regained ground after the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits declined by 8,000 last week to 276,000. Analysts had expected initial jobless claims to fall by 5,000 to 279,000 last week.
Investors now looked ahead to Friday’s U.S. employment report, which was forecast to show a gain of 225,000 jobs in May, following an increase of 223,000 in April.
A strong U.S. nonfarm payrolls report was likely to bring forward expectations on when the central bank will begin to raise rates, while a weak number could weigh on the dollar by undermining the argument for an early rate increase.
Recent economic reports have indicated that the U.S. economy was regaining strength after contracting in the first quarter, fuelling speculation that the Federal Reserve could raise rates as soon as September.