Oil prices down as US majors plan to raise production

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - Crude oil prices were down at trading start on Wednesday as two major American oil producers announced plans to boost their production over the next five years.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $65.41 per barrel with a 0.3 percent loss after it ended Wednesday at $65.59 a barrel.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was $56.11 a barrel, a 0.15 percent decline, after closing the previous session at $56.19 per barrel.

U.S. majors ExxonMobil and Chevron announced their plans on Tuesday to raise production in the Permian basin by around 1 million barrels per day (bpd) each over the next five years.

The global oil market will focus on the weekly change in crude oil inventories and production in the U.S. that will be released by the country's Energy Information Administration (EIA) later Wednesday.

The world's largest oil producer saw its crude output reach a new record high level of 12.1 million bpd for the week ending Feb. 22, according to the EIA.