Benchmark U.S. crude futures slipped to a two-week low at US$43.55 (S$61.95) a barrel in early trading before edging back up to US$43.72 a barrel by 0652 GMT, still down nearly half a dollar from their last close.
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Traders and investors were looking ahead to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Thursday, delayed by a day due to a holiday.
US crude stocks jumped by 6.3 million barrels in the week to November 6 to 486.1 million barrels, data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute showed late on Tuesday, compared with analyst expectations for an increase of 1 million barrels.
From the perspective of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, demand from Asian economies should grow from about 16 million barrels per day to almost 46 million bpd by 2040.
Analysts say the ongoing oil-price slump has triggered higher crude-imports in China as local refiners take advantage of below-$50-a-barrel prices to expand market share. “More American shale producers are turning off their taps”, said Barnabas Chen, an OCBC energy analyst.
Nomura also struck a more bullish tone, expecting Brent prices to climb to around $70 a barrel by 2018.
“This is the first time since the mid-1980s that the oil and gas industry will have cut investment in two consecutive years”, Abdulaziz said. It will be the largest monthly increase of Iraqi oil in the USA since 2012, according to Bloomberg. Smith noted that United States oil inventories are less than eight million barrels below record heights set earlier this year. USA crude inventories have grown for six straight weeks as refineries have bought less crude while performing maintenance, and production has remained robust.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock for December – the benchmark gasoline contract – fell 47 points to $1.3571 a gallon, while December diesel traded at $1.4782, 83 points lower.
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On similar lines, the oil for delivery in December shed 80 paise, or 0.20 per cent, to Rs 408.90 per 10 kg in 44 lots.
