Brent May 2016 futures fell from the morning peak of over $36 per barrel to around 33.30 per barrel by 15:00 GMT. WTI March 2016 futures fell from over $31 per barrel to under $29.50 by 15:00 GMT.
While not a relapse into a slump, Thursday's downward trend wiped out earlier gains despite the partial success of the Doha talks, where Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Qatar reportedly agreed to freeze oil production at January levels throughout 2016 if other countries followed suit. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan announced its intention to abstain from the output freeze.
Markets remained skeptical of the possible production freeze amid persistent oversupply. US oil stocks remain at a record high, reaching the 500 million barrel mark in the last week of January, according to the US Energy Information Administration. This is up from just over 410 million barrels of oil stored during the same period in 2015. Inventories have, however, shrunk slightly from the nearly 503 million barrels on January 29 to just under 502 million on February 5.
