Oil prices dropped on Thursday. WTI futures fell 44 cents to close at US$23.55 a barrel. Brent for July contract lost 26 cents to fix at US$29.46 a barrel.
Even though Saudi Aramco raised rates, the market remains overflooded after Saudi Arabia exported record amounts of crude oil in April.
According to Standard Chartered Plc analysts, the level of excess global supply averaged 21.3 million barrels a day last month. 
Phil Streible, a Chief Market Strategist for Blue Line Futures LLC, stated that prices that have been increasing for the last couple of days are going to pause.
A steady demand increase is what’s needed to maintain higher prices, said Will Rhind, a Chief Executive Officer at GraniteShares.
Brazil’s Petrobras suspends sale of vast oil fields
After an oil price collapse, Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras has suspended preparations to sell four offshore fields producing 230,000 barrels per day. To cut its massive debt, the company has been selling non-core assets and minority stakes in oilfields in the country.
In December 2019, the company said it would look to trade extra oil assets, including stakes in Marlim, parts of the Papa-Terra area, its Bolivian assets, petrochem firm Braskem SA, and its remaining stake in BR Distribuidora.
According to Petrobras executives, the parts of the Marlim field could net as much as $4 billion. While Braskem SA could fetch as much as $3 billion, Petrobras executives said at the end of last year.
However, the coronavirus pandemic and oil price collapse upended Petrobras’s plans. It is uncertain when selling a stake will revive.
Oil demand is recovering
OPEC and its allies started executing oil production cuts on May 1. Saudi pricing brought a short relief to the market. Still, a strong demand increase is needed to maintain higher prices, states Will Rhind, a Chief Executive Officer at GraniteShares.
According to Jeff Currie, the Head of Commodities Research at Goldman Sachs, there are signs that oil demand is recovering. In the US, gasoline demand is improving.
Besides, weekly gasoline provided, a sign of consumption, increased by 804,000 barrels a day last week, the most significant boost since June 2018, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
On Thursday, Genscape Inc. notified that stockpiles in Cushing, Oklahoma, dropped more than 350,000 barrels since Friday. Since late February, it will be the first reduction.
Still, Rhind warned that, if a possible second wave of the coronavirus returns people to their homes, demand could quickly reverse.
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