RIYADH: Oil prices slipped on Tuesday but were still near the three-month high reached in the previous session on signs of tightening global supply and strong demand in the US, the world’s biggest fuel consumer. Brent crude futures for October were down 54 cents at $85.89 a barrel at 11:22 a.m. Saudi time. Brent settled at its highest since April 13 on Monday. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $81.24 a barrel, down 56 cents from the previous session’s settlement, its highest since April 14. US crude products rose in May, its highest since August 2019: EIA US crude oil and petroleum products supplied, a proxy for demand, rose to 20.78 million barrels per day in May, the highest since August 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic decimated global energy demand, Energy Information Administration data showed on Monday. Product supplied of finished motor gasoline increased in May to 9.11 million bpd, the highest since June 2022. Meanwhile, US field production of crude oil fell to 12.66 million bpd in May, the lowest since February, EIA data showed. Production in Texas advanced 0.9 percent to 5.5 million bpd, its highest on record since 2005. North Dakota output also climbed by 0.9 percent to 1.1 million bpd in May, its highest since February. However, production fell in New Mexico by 3.1 percent to 1.8 million bpd, its lowest since February. Gross natural gas production in the US lower 48 states moved up 0.7 billion cubic feet per day to a record 115 bcfd in May, according to the EIA’s monthly 914 production report. That topped the prior all-time high of 114.3 bcfd in April 2023. In top gas-producing states, monthly output in May rose 1.2 percent to 20.9 bcfd in Pennsylvania, the highest since January 2022 and grew 1.2 percent to a record 33.7 bcfd in Texas. Strathcona to buy smaller rival at $6.5bn On Tuesday, Canadian oil producer Strathcona Resources said it would go public by acquiring smaller rival Pipestone Energy Corp. in an all-stock deal to value the combined business at 8.6 billion Canadian dollars ($6.49 billion). Pipestone Energy has a market capitalization of $756.83 million, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. Strathcona said the two companies will amalgamate to form a new corporation that will retain Strathcona’s name. Pipestone shareholders will receive about 9.05 percent of the pro forma equity in the combined company, with existing Strathcona shareholders owning the rest. (With input from Reuters)