Oil steadied at around $40 per barrel on Thursday as a surprise fall in U.S. inventories the previous day was offset by an increase in exports from Iraq, underlining global oversupply. Brent futures were at $39.89 at 0757 GMT, up 5 cents from the last close and about 8 percent above lows reached earlier this week. U.S. crude futures were at $37.80 per barrel, also up 5 cents from their last close. Oil exports from Iraq’s southern ports have risen to an average of 3.494 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, an official from the state-run South Oil Company said on Thursday. This was above the 3.286 million bpd average for March. U.S. crude inventories fell 4.9 million barrels in the week to April 1, compared with analysts’ […]