Oil prices fall as demand concerns outweigh supply restrictions

Oil prices dipped for a second consecutive session on Thursday, as concerns over demand outweighed a tight global supply following the release of U.S. government data suggesting sluggish gasoline consumption during the peak summer driving season.

Brent oil futures shed 37 cents, or 0.3 percent , to $106.55 a barrel at 0003 GMT. WTI oil futures slipped 33 cents, or 0.3 percent , to $99.55 a barrel.

Oil prices have fluctuated since traders have had to balance a tighter global supply due to the loss of Russian barrels as a result of the country's invasion of Ukraine with recessionary worries that might lower energy use.

According to data issued by the federal government on Wednesday, gasoline stocks in the United States climbed by 3.5 million barrels last week, which is much more than the 71,000-barrel increase projected by experts in a Reuters survey.

The data indicated that gasoline output, a proxy for demand, was around 8.5 million barrels per day, or 7.6 percent less than during the same time period in the previous year.

Vivek Dhar, a commodities analyst at Commonwealth Bank, wrote in a research, "We expect Brent oil futures to fall below $100/bbl by the end of the fourth quarter of 2022."

Following the termination of force majeure on oil exports last week, the National Oil Corp of Libya stated that crude oil production had resumed at several oilfields.

One of Canada's primary oil export conduits, the Keystone pipeline, was operating at reduced rates for a third straight day on Wednesday, operator TC Energy (NYSE:TRP) said in a statement, while repairs to a third-party power plant in South Dakota continued.