Oil prices slipped on Friday

International benchmarks for oil prices inched lower on Friday (27 May) as trader closed their position to avoid any unforeseen changes after prices hit above the psychological threshold of $50/barrel. Stronger US dollars also pushed prices down. Analysts expect prices to hold at the current levels in the coming days given falling output in the US and temporary outages in Canada and Nigeria. However, Production by members of the OPEC is on the rise with market expectation the group total output would exceed 3 million barrels per day this summer.

WTI closed at $49.33/barrel (-$0.15) June delivery

Brent closed at $49.32/barrel (-$0.22) July delivery