Oil attempting gains in Asia on falling US supply

Oil benchmarks are attempting gains in Asia on falling US oil inventories and after UAE minister called out US shale to cut production.

At the time of writing, WTI oil was up 12 cents or 0.24% at $50.56/barrel. Brent oil was trading flat around $51.95/barrel.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) report released yesterday showed a drop of 3.7 million barrels for distillates, which include diesel and heating oil, and a 1.9-million barrel decline for gasoline.

Furthermore, UAE Energy Minister is calling non-OPEC oil producers to join the fight, including Russia and even US shale.

The focus today is on the release of US Baker Hughes rig count data.