Oil edges lower on profit taking

Oil prices fell on Thursday, falling for the first day in 3, after hitting a 2-month high due to profit-taking, but today's loss remains limited thanks to a drop in the US crude inventories and oil production, while the US dollar fell against its peers.

US crude fell 0.7% to $82.18 a barrel, after opening at $82.79, and hit a high at $82.91, and Brent crude fell 0.6% to $84.20 a barrel, after opening at $84.73, and hit a high at $84.94.

The US crude gained 1.8% yesterday, and hit a 2-month high at $83.07, and Brent rose 1.3% and hit the highest since November 10 at $85.18, 2.1%, following the US Energy Information Administration's weekly report..

The Energy Information Administration reported today that the US crude inventories fell 4.6 million barrels to 413.5 million barrels during the past week, while analysts forecast a drop by 2.1 million barrels, which is the lowest level since the week ending October 5, 2018.

US oil production also fell 100,000 barrels per day last week, to a total of 11.7 million barrels per day.

The dollar index fell more than 0.3% today, deepening losses for the third day in a row, and hit a 2-month low at 94.71 points.

The greenback drop lifts demand dollar-denominated commodity prices, making prices cheaper for other currencies buyers.