Oil declines on bets for bearish U.S. stockpile data, OPEC doubts

Used oil barrels are stacked at a storage facility in Seattle, Washington February 12, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Redmond

Oil prices were lower during European hours on Thursday, moving further away from this week’s highs as market players awaited fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products, while doubts over an output cut by major global oil producers dampened sentiment.

Crude oil for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 29 cents, or 0.58%, to $49.89 a barrel by 4:20AM ET (08:20GMT), after falling 61 cents, or 1.2%, a day earlier. The U.S. benchmark touched a high of $51.60 earlier this week, the most since June 9.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its weekly report on oil supplies at 11:00AM ET (15:00GMT) Thursday, amid analyst expectations for an increase of 650,000 barrels. This would be the first rise in oil stocks following five straight weeks of declines.

Gasoline inventories are expected to fall by 1.5 million barrels while stocks of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, are forecast to drop by 1.6 million barrels.

The report comes out one day later than usual due to Monday’s Columbus Day holiday.

After markets closed Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute said that U.S. oil inventories increased by 2.7 million barrels in the week ended October 7. The API report also showed a gain of 700,000 barrels in gasoline stocks, while distillates showed a drop of 4.5 million barrels on the week.

Elsewhere, Brent oil for December delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London shed 20 cents, or 0.41%, to $51.61 a barrel.

On Wednesday, prices lost 60 cents, or 1.14%, after OPEC reported that its oil productionrose in September to its highest level in eight years and pointed to a larger surplus next year, despite an agreement to potentially cut output.

The producer cartel pumped 33.39 million barrels per day last month, up 220,000 barrels per day from August.

London-traded Brent prices hit $53.73 just a few days ago, a level not seen since October 9, 2015, amid growing expectations of an output cut by major global oil producers.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries reached an agreement to limit production to a range of 32.5 million to 33.0 million barrels per day in talks held on the sidelines of an energy conference in Algeria late last month.

However, market analysts remained skeptical of the deal, pondering how such a plan would be implemented.

The 14-member oil group said it won’t finalize details or complete its production agreement until the group’s next official meeting in Vienna on November 30.

 

Source: Investing.com