OPEC revealed that Nigeria produced 1.677 million bpd in March, down from 1.744 million barrels in February, while Angola oil output rose from 1.767 million bpd to 1.782 million.
Advertisement
International Brent crude oil futures were trading at $46.13 per barrel at 8.27 p.m. ET, down 12 cents from their last close and near to the $45.90 two-month lows reached the previous day.
The rising US oil drilling rig count and cuts in bullish hedge fund bets on crude to four-month lows also added to the hard fall in prices. September Brent crude LCOU6, -1.32% London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.54, or 1.1%, to $47.93 a barrel.
WTI fell July 7 after the EIA said US crude supplies shrank by a smaller-than-projected 2.22 million barrels to 524.4 million.
A Reuters poll forecast us crude stockpiles fell 3.3 million barrels last week, declining for an eighth week in a row. The bank forecast WTI would average $43.59 per barrel this year versus $36.91 in its earlier forecast, and $55.00 for 2017, versus $52.88 earlier.
Brent is forecast to average US$44.53 a barrel this year, up from an earlier estimate of US$37.77, and average US$56.25 a barrel in 2017, up from US$54.25 earlier.
“Just a few weeks ago, market participants had still been looking nearly exclusively at price-supportive factors – now they appear to have eyes only for bearish factors again. There is may be a little bit of profit taking ahead of the stats”, said Ben Le Brun, market analyst at Sydney’s OptionsXpress. Official inventory data is due from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.
The cartel didn’t change its overall assessment of oil demand growth in 2017, forecasting new demand of 1.2 million barrels a day.
It should be noted though that in its first assessment of 2017, OPEC forecast higher demand for its crude oil next year as the global surplus is expected to continue to slowly shrink.
It added: “Among the numerous challenges for global economic growth in the second half of 2016 and in the coming year, the outcome of the UK’s decision to leave the European Union will be of great importance”. “That was fundamentally the good news story of the night”, Le Brun said.
Advertisement
Oil markets are also eyeing the impact of an global court ruling on Tuesday that China has no historic title over the waters of the South China Sea potentially putting it in conflict with other countries in the region which have rival claims. Investors are keeping a watchful eye on China trade balance data later on Wednesday, Le Brun said.
