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Crude prices tumbled almost 3% from a 6th straight weekly build in U.S. stockpiles and OPEC+'s decision to leave production levels unchanged. Brent crude for Mar delivery settled down almost 3% to USD82.84 while WTI crude for Mar also settled down almost 3% to USD76.41.

U.S. crude inventories rose by 4.14m barrels during the week ended Jan. 27, the EIA. The build was above the 0.376m forecast by industry analysts and compared with the rise of 0.533m reported by the EIA during the previous week to Jan 20. The EIA has reported a total crude build of 34.5m barrels over the past 6 weeks. At a current standing of 824.3m barrels, crude stockpiles were at their highest since Jun 2021, said the EIA.

OPEC+, at its virtual monthly meeting, decided to maintain output targets agreed upon in Dec.

The path ahead for those long on oil is challenging at the least given the premature state of China's evolution from its coronavirus crisis, said Craig Erlam, analyst at OANDA.

"Focus will remain on demand and whether the global economy can achieve a more modest slowdown than feared in a very challenging environment," Erlam said.

"The Chinese COVID transition also remains key with early data suggesting it's been quite smooth so far and the recovery could be stronger than expected," Erlam wrote. "That said, the Caixin manufacturing PMI overnight suggested not all firms share that optimism, which could complicate things over the coming months. A strong rebound will obviously be a significant upside risk for crude prices which were weighed on last year during outbreaks and restrictions."