Picture used for illustrative purpose. File

Gulf Today Report 

Oil prices declined on Thursday after official data indicated an increase in US crude and fuel inventories.

Brent crude was down 37 cents, or 0.5%, at $67.63 a barrel by 05:35 GMT while US oil was also down 32 cents, or 0.5%, at $64.28 a barrel, having fallen 0.3% the previous session.

According to data, US crude inventories increased for four straight weeks after refineries closed due to bad weather. 

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Last week, the US crude inventories increased by 2.4 million barrels, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.

According to ING, "refiners continue to bring back capacity after the freezing conditions in February."

However, the slow-paced of vaccination programmes and the prospect of restrictions has capped demand.