Oil prices slip as U.S. inventories swell

Oil prices slipped after U.S. crude inventories swelled to their highest level since December 2017 amid concerns of an emerging global glut, although the potential for a supply cut by OPEC prevented further drops.

Brent crude oil futures were at $63.25 per barrel, down 23 cents, or 0.4%. WTI crude futures, were at $54.35 per barrel at 0534 GMT, 28 cents, or 0.5% below their last settlement, Reuters reported.

U.S. commercial crude oil inventories C-STK-T-EIA rose by 4.9 million barrels to 446.91 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a weekly report on Wednesday. That was the highest level since December last year.

U.S. crude oil production C-OUT-T-EIA remained at a record 11.7 million barrels per day (bpd), the EIA said.