Shares in Providence Resources jumped more than 7% yesterday on the back of the Dublin-based explorer reporting a near €4m narrowing of annual losses.

From the air above a small Oklahoma town, the 300 steel oil storage tanks that dot the landscape appear filled to the brim, their floating lids bobbing atop more than 65m barrels of oil.

Oil declined after an official report showed US crude inventories advanced to an 86-year high.