Tight global supply offers price support analysts
Saudi, UAE save oil firepower in case of winter supply crisis
OPEC agrees to raise oil output target by 100,000 bpd
Oil prices to trade between 90100bbl range analysts
LONDON, Aug 4 Reuters Oil prices were broadly steady on Thursday as the market weighed tight supply against fears of a demand slowdown, after a build in U.S. crude and gasoline stocks sent prices to multimonth lows in the previous session.
Brent crude futures were down 3 cents to 96.75 a barrel by 1200 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate WTI crude futures were up 40 cents, a 0.44 gain, at 91.06.
Both benchmarks fell on Wednesday to their weakest levels since before Russia39;s Feb. 24 invasion of UKraine, that Moscow calls a special operation.
The move followed an unexpected surge in U.S. crude inventories last week. Gasoline stocks, the proxy for demand, also showed a surprise build as demand slowed, the Energy Information Administration said.
The demand outlook remains clouded by increasing worries about an economic slump in the United States and Europe, debt distress in emerging market economies, and a strict zero COVID19 policy in China, the world39;s largest oil importer.
An OPEC agreement on Wednesday to raise its output target by just 100,000 barrels per day bpd in September, equivalent to 0.1 of global demand, was viewed as bearish for the market.
The largely symbolic increase will obviously not provide a significant buffer to any…