Mubasher: Oil futures steadied earlier on Wednesday after a sharp decline in the preceding session, supported by the rollover of supply cuts led by major producers, amidst worries over a slowing global economy, according to Reuters.

Crude markets were buoyed after a closely-watched industry data that showed a bigger-than-expected drop in US oil inventories, while official figures are due to be released later in the day.

By 7:33 am GMT, US Nymex crude futures climbed by 0.32% to $56.43 per barrel (pb), while international benchmark Brent futures rose by 0.24% to $62.55 pb.

An agreement to extend production cuts until March 2020 was reached on Tuesday between members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other non-affiliated producers, including Russia, an alliance known as OPEC+.

“The OPEC+ meeting showed the members sticking together in tough times, characterised by weakening global demand outlook, aiming for a more balanced oil market, despite clear market share implications,” a note by Barclays Commodities Research analyst Amarpreet Singh was quoted by Reuters.

Supportive of oil prices was a report by the American Petroleum Institute (API) showing that the US crude stockpiles dropped by 5 million barrels last week.

This came way larger than expectations of a 3-million-barrel drawdown.

However, indicators of a global downturn dampening crude consumption growth spooked traders after global manufacturing output figures came disappointing, at the same time when the US started another trade dispute with the European Union (EU), threatening to hit an additional list of the bloc’s products with tariffs.