Brent crude was down 17 cents, or 0.2 percent, at $89.30 a barrel by 0420 GMT, after rising 31 cents on Wednesday.
US West Texas Intermediate crude was down 31 cents, or 0.4%, at $87.95 a barrel, after rising 6 cents the day before.
“The drop this morning may be a result of poorly shockingly low US ADP employment last night, but we believe supply pressures could push oil prices higher during this year,” said Hoi Lee, an economist at OCBC in Singapore.
Private payrolls in the US fell for the first time in a year in January, raising the risk of a sharp drop in employment that would cause a temporary setback to the labor market.
However, tight global supplies and geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe and the Middle East have pushed oil prices up about 15% this year so far. Over the past week, benchmark crude hit its highest price since October 2014, with US crude rising to $89.72 on Wednesday and Brent touching $91.70 on Friday.
Prices also came under pressure late on Wednesday after Iran’s oil minister said his country was ready to return to the oil market as soon as possible, but gave few details.
“The oil market is really no closer to seeing additional barrels of crude, but today we don’t see any new catalysts pushing prices to new highs,” said Edward Moya, chief market analyst at OANDA.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia, better known as OPEC+, agreed on Wednesday to stick to moderate increases of 400,000 barrels per day in their oil production, as the group already struggles to meet current targets and despite pressure from major consumers to ramp up production more quickly. .
“OPEC + will provide more production promises than expected when the oil price is above $100,” Moya said.
The organization blamed the price hike on the failure of consuming countries to ensure adequate investment in fossil fuels as they switch to greener energy, while several OPEC+ sources said that Russian-American tensions pushed prices higher.
The OPEC + Joint Technical Committee said in a report that it expects the total surplus in 2022 to reach 1.3 million barrels per day, slightly lower than its previous forecast of 1.4 million barrels per day.
The US Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that US crude stocks fell by 1 million barrels last week, against expectations of an increase, while distillate stocks also fell amid strong demand in both domestic and export markets.
A major winter storm is expected to sweep across much of the central United States and extend into parts of the Northeast this week, the National Weather Service said, while keeping prices to a minimum, bringing heavy snowfall, sleet and snow. The storm comes days after a deadly winter blast and could boost oil prices, especially as some areas are replacing natural gas where supplies may be tight.
HF