Oil is rising after USA inventories fall more than expected

Adjust Comment Print

Oil prices ended down more than 2 percent on Wednesday after hitting a 10-month low in volatile trade, as growing US production and reduced Chinese refinery activity fed mounting concern over the stubborn global crude glut.

Brent was trading 26 cents down at $45.76 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate dropped 20 cents to $43.31.

For july delivery West Texas Intermediate, on Tuesday it will expires, exchange at 1:37PM in London was down $1.14 to $43.06/bbl on the New York Mercantile which is lowest since November 14.

Supplies from OPEC also jumped in May, driven by recovering output from Libya and Nigeria, which were exempt from cuts due to unrest that had hindered their output.

Oil headed for the longest run of weekly losses since August 2015 as US crude stockpiles remain stubbornly high and as Libyan production climbs toward the most in four years.

And a research note from BMI highlighted some countries had increased supply prior to the latest Opec agreement.

Iranian oil minister Bijan Zanganeh said OPEC members were considering deeper cuts in output, but should wait until the effect of the current level of production was clear. Gasoline stocks rose 2.1 million barrels and gasoline inventories now sit at 242.4 million barrels, or 9 percent, above the five-year average of 223 million barrels, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.

"The risk is to the downside for oil", said Jonathan Barratt, chief investment officer at Ayers Alliance Securities in Sydney.

The increased supply has been met with a "disappointing of late" demand for oil within the U.S.

Terrorist killed at Brussels railway station was Moroccan
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel said a suitcase bomb packed with nails and gas bottles could have caused heavy casualties. There will be a heightened security presence through the day in train and metro stations, the Belgian Crisis Center tweeted.

US Crude Oil Is in a Bear Market: What's Next?

Brent was down $1.20, or 2.6 percent, at $44.82 a barrel.

With underlying sentiment remaining weak, rallies in oil prices quickly attracted selling pressure amid fears over global over-supply.

"This isn't one of the most volatile declines (in price)".

A recent report from the Paris-based International Energy Agency predicted next year's increase in output by non-OPEC countries will be slightly higher than the increase in global demand.

Libya's oil production rose 50,000 barrels per day to 885,000, a Libyan source told Reuters, after reaching a settlement with Germany's Wintershall.

"People are getting a little tired waiting for the production cuts to have effect", Michael Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research in Winchester, Massachusetts, said by telephone.

The December 2017 US crude contract is at its biggest discount to December 2018 futures since July, a signal that traders expect the glut to persist even longer.

Comments