By Nicole Jao
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices steadied on Thursday after hitting a seven-week high in the previous session as Russia moved to restrict fuel exports until the end of the year, but the gains were limited by new U.S. economic data that tempered optimism around further interest rate cuts.
Brent futures settled 11 cents, or 0.16%, higher at $69.42 a barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures lost 1 cent, or 0.02%, to $64.98.
Both benchmarks gained 2.5% on Wednesday to reach their highest since August 1, driven by a surprise drop in U.S. weekly crude inventories and concerns that Ukraine’s attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure could disrupt supplies.
Oil received more support after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday the country would introduce a partial ban on diesel exports until the end of the year and extend an existing ban on gasoline exports, following a spate of Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries.
Capping some gains, U.S. gross domestic product increased at an upwardly revised 3.8% annualized rate last quarter, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said in its latest estimate on Thursday.
“The initial reaction on that was a sell-off,” said Phil Flynn, a senior analyst at Price Futures Group.
Stronger than expected economic data would make the Federal Reserve more cautious about cutting interest rates. The U.S. central bank cut rates by 25 bps last week, its first cut since December, and had signaled more reductions ahead.
Price pressure also came from bearish expectations on supply fundamentals, with more oil expected from Iraq and Kurdistan.
The Kurdistan Regional Government announced on Thursday that oil exports would resume within 48 hours after the tripartite agreement among Iraq’s oil ministry, the KRG ministry of natural resources and producing companies.
“The return of Kurdish supplies adds back fears of an oversupply narrative, propelling a pullback in prices that hover near a seven-week high,” said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova.
(Reporting by Nicole Jao and Anna Hirtenstein; Additional reporting by Sam Li and Trixie Yap; Editing by David Goodman, Toby Chopra, Chris Reese and Cynthia Osterman)
