Oil Prices Slip as Glut Deepens, Inventories Rise

Oil prices slipped for a third straight week, with Brent near $61.11/bbl and U.S. WTI around $57.37, pushing U.S. futures to multi-month lows well below year-ago levels. The futures curve moved into contango—six-month Brent spreads deepened to roughly -$0.30—encouraging storage as near-term supply looks ample. Agency and market data reinforced surplus fears: the IEA raised surplus estimates, U.S. EIA inventories rose for a third consecutive week with about a 3.5 million-barrel build, and large volumes of oil floating on the water are near pandemic-era levels. Weaker demand amid renewed U.S.-China trade tensions and uncertainty over Russian flows, including U.S. tariff threats tied to purchases, has added volatility. Those factors have kept downward pressure on prices and heightened concerns that a sustained supply glut is depressing the market.