ISLAMABAD: Oil edged lower on Thursday as traders weighed rising US stockpiles and signs of progress on talks to raise the US debt ceiling. As of 1220 hours GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, shed $0.17 (-0.22 percent) to reach $76.79. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the main oil benchmark for North America, went down by $0.16 (-o.22 percent) to $72.67. The prices for Brent and WTI surged a day earlier by almost 3% when Biden expressed confidence that negotiators would reach an agreement to avoid a catastrophic situation. The price of Russian Sokol increased by $2.39 (+3.68 percent) to $67.27. Similarly, Arab Light prices witnessed an increase of $2.15 (+2.84 percent) to reach $77.75 a barrel. TLTP
