Oil is trading in the red in the face of rising US production

• The benchmark oil index fell nearly 3% Thursday and extend the decline in Asia with the rise in US production.
• The United States exports more than 3 million barrels of oil a day for the first time this year.

The oil indices are trading in the red this Friday morning in Asia, after falling sharply in the previous session because of the rise in US production.

Brent is currently trading at $ 70.50 a barrel, down 0.35% that day and the barrel of WTI oil is trading at $ 61.70, down 0.15%.

Both indexes fell nearly 3% Thursday after data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that US oil production reached a record 12.3 million barrels per day (bpd) the last week, with a rise of about 2 million bpd over the last year.

More importantly, US oil exports exceeded 3 million bpd for the first time this year, raising concerns that the market remains well supplied despite the agreement to cut OPEC production. + and the US decision to force Iranian oil exports to zero.

The Trump administration, while re-imposing sanctions on Iran in November, granted waivers to Iran's biggest oil buyers, namely China, India, Turkey, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan , Greece and Italy. However, the United States has put an end to waivers in an attempt to tighten its economy over Iran and markets are worried that Iran will react in ways that increase geopolitical tensions.

In the longer term, the oil indexes could remain under pressure and prolong the slide if the Baker Hughes data, which is expected to be released during the North American session, reveal a sharp increase in the number of US platforms.