US crude hovers near $44, oversupply worries drag

U.S. crude futures eased slightly on Friday but stayed near $44 a barrel, dragged down by renewed concerns about oversupply after Kuwait's oil minister said OPEC had no choice but to maintain production levels.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has no choice but to keep its market share and maintain oil production, Kuwait Oil Minister Ali al-Omair said on Thursday.

Iran's desire for an easing of restrictions on its nuclear program is one of the stumbling blocks on an early agreement between Tehran and six world powers, officials said Thursday.

The United States will remove sanctions on Iran in stages, tying the moves to Tehran's "verifiable" steps in curbing its nuclear activities, a senior U.S. Treasury official said on Thursday.

Exports from Iraq's southern oilfields have risen in March to an average 2.66 million barrels per day (bpd) compared with 2.29 million mpd for the whole of February after poor weather delayed cargoes last month.

Iraq plans to split its southern Basra oil production into two grades due to quality differences, offering a heavier crude from May, in a move that will affect 2 million barrels a day of crude exports, sources told Reuters on Thursday.