Oil futures settled lower on Thursday, extending losses to a third straight session, as recent data showing a surge in U.S. crude inventories last week continued to weigh on the commodity.
Data from Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday showed crude stockpiles rose by 16.283 million barrels during the week ended February 10, marking an eighth straight weekly rise.
Optimism about higher demand for oil from China helped limit the drop in the commodity's prices.
West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for March ended down $0.10 at $78.49 a barrel.
Brent crude futures were down $0.43 or about 0.5% at $84.95 a barrel a little while ago.
According to a report from International Energy Agency (IEA), China is likely to buy an additional 500,000 barrels per day this year, accounting for almost half of the 2023 global oil demand growth this year, following an end to COVID-19 curbs that had strongly curbed energy usage in the country.
