Oil prices down for fourth day

Oil prices fell for a fourth straight day on Wednesday, hitting five-week lows, as jittery investors awaited US government data on crude stockpiles after a stunning build reported by a trade group that underlined the market’s oversupply.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) said after Tuesday’s market settlement that crude stockpiles rose by 9.3 million barrels in the week to Oct. 28, more than nine times the amount expected by analysts polled by Reuters.
The US government’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) will issue inventory data for the same week at 1430 GMT.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell by 80 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $45.98 by 1345 GMT. Brent was down 75 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $47.39. Both benchmarks were at their lowest since Sept. 28.
The API bases its inventory numbers on voluntary reporting by its members, while the EIA uses a much larger sample. However, if the government agency confirms a large build, traders said crude prices could plummet, with WTI breaking key $45 support. “The API’s crude build of more than 9 million barrels that appeared long overdue from our vantage point is adding to a list of bearish items,” said Jim Ritterbusch of Chicago-based oil markets consultancy Ritterbusch & Associates.
Crude prices have swung in recent weeks, with Brent hitting one-year highs of $53.73 and WTI 15-month peaks of $51.93 on OPEC plans to cut output before retreating as some members of the producer group resisted the move.
OPEC output likely reached another record high in October at 33.82 million barrels per day from a revised 33.69 million bpd in September, a Reuters survey on Monday showed, ahead of the Nov. 30 meeting where the group hopes to finalize cuts.
Nigeria’s oil minister said on Tuesday the largest African producer within OPEC had seen its output recover to 2.1 million bpd.
Libya, another key OPEC member, has doubled its output since mid-September and is currently producing about 590,000 bpd.
“Those who were hoping for some upside from any sort of production agreement appear to have had their hopes dashed,” said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney. “It looks like there are speculative longs quitting the market.” Meanwhile, Saudi Aramco expects prices to rise in the first half of 2017 as the market returns to balance, CEO Amin Nasser said late Tuesday.

Source: Arab News