Oil prices eased early on Thursday after a larger-than-expected build in U.S. crude stockpiles stoked worries about slow demand, while signs that U.S. interest rates could remain elevated for longer also added to pressure.
Brent crude futures fell 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $83.46 a barrel by 0124 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 30 cents, or 0.4%, to $78.24 a barrel.
U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose while gasoline and distillate inventories fell last week as refiners ran at below seasonal lows due to planned and unplanned outages, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
