Another supportive factor was an oil workers’ strike in Norway, which threatened to cut North Sea crude output.
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The pending expiry after Tuesday’s settlement of WTI’s October delivery contract, the front-month for the USA crude benchmark, had also weighed in New York’s morning trade.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were down 24 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $43.67 a barrel.
Oil producers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and also Russian Federation plan to meet in Algeria next week to discuss measures to rein in the oversupply, but analysts said they did not expect significant cuts to production.
U.S. crude imports rose last week by 77,000 barrels per day, but the rate dropped sharply in the U.S. Gulf, falling about 500,000 bpd to 2.9 million bpd, close to the record low of 2.5 million bpd hit in the week to September 2 when the storm disrupted supplies.
Distillate inventories rose by 1.4 million barrels, marking six weeks of consecutive increases. “We are not. targeting a decision, we are meeting for consultations”, he said, adding: “We at the UAE are encouraged and we support the joint approach between Saudi Arabia and Russian Federation”.
Market analysts’ expected a crude-stock increase of 3.35 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a supply draw of a whopping 7.5 million barrels.
Brent crude oil futures were trading at $45.45 per barrel at 1128 GMT, down 50 cents day on day and a near three-week low.
Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports in July rose to 7.62 million barrels per day (MMBPD), from 7.46 MMBPD in June, official data showed Monday.
Baker Hughes U.S. rig count data for the week to September 16 is due on Friday.
Technical market indicators were also weak, with WTI likely to test support at $42.78 per barrel soon, after which a fall toward $42 would be likely, according to Reuters analyst Wang Tao. The consensus forecast is for a build of around 3.0mn for the week and, although there will certainly be unofficial expectations of a lower figure given the API data, any draw in inventories would tend to provide fresh support to prices.
A move by the Fed’s policy-setting committee to raise interest rates will likely boost the dollar and make oil more expensive for holders of other currencies, denting demand and prices.
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Refinery crude runs (USOICR=ECI) fell 143,000 bpdas utilization rates (USOIRU=ECI) fell 0.9 percentage point to 92 percent of total capacity, EIA data showed.
