Oil prices were down early Thursday as U.S. crude oil production hovered around record high levels, and continued upward price pressure.
International benchmark Brent crude traded at $71.54 per barrel at 0637 GMT with a 0.14% decline after closing Wednesday at $71.64 a barrel.
American benchmark West Texas Intermediate was at $63.69 a barrel at the same time, down 0.02%, after ending the previous session at $63.74 per barrel.
The U.S.' crude oil production fell by 106,000 barrels per day (bpd) for the week ending April 12, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) data on Wednesday, however output still managed to maintain record high levels.
Crude production in the country reached 12.1 million bpd during that week -- a 3.4% increase since the beginning of 2019 when it registered at 11.7 million bpd.
The U.S.' crude production surpassed Saudi Arabia and Russia in October and November last year, respectively, to take the top cruder producer spot worldwide.
U.S. crude production is estimated to increase further to average 12.4 million bpd in 2019 and 13.1 million bpd in 2020, according to the EIA's Short-Term Energy Outlook report for April.
By Ovunc Kutlu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr