USA crude oil prices slipped further by 0.5% in early Asian trade, while Brent Crude declined by 0.43% from its recent settlement.
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Since late 2014, Saudi Arabia has tried to hamper US production, largely responsible for the current oil supply glut.
On a more positive note, the closely-watched USA gasoline inventories fell by 2.8 million barrels over the measured week, more than the forecast of a 1 million barrels fall.
But rising demand should help curb stocks later this year, the IEA said on Thursday.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at $41.59 per barrel at 0650 GMT, down 12 cents from their last settlement. The fundamentals are bearish for oil and gasoline prices, and not likely to change any time soon. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a 1.0 million-barrel crude draw instead.
A monthly report from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries also showed Saudi Arabian oil production at almost 10.5 million barrels per day in July – a record high, above peak levels seen the same time past year. The cartel left its 2017 demand outlook unchanged at 95.41 million barrels per day. The global benchmark fell as low as $41.51 a barrel last week.
Prices were also hit Wednesday by Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries monthly report that indicated Saudi Arabia produced at a record-high rate last month by churning out 10.67 million barrels a day.
“I’m in touch with President Correa (of Ecuador), members of Opec and non-Opec (countries)”, Maduro said on his weekly TV show, adding that Venezuela was pushing to “stabilise” the oil price at $40 per barrel.
“In any case, many oil forecasters, including the EIA, expect the crude market to be under-supplied in the second half of next year”. Saudi Aramco dropped its prices on July 31 for September purchases by Asian customers, between 70 cents and $1.30 a barrel (depending on the oil grade) – one of the contributing factors that sent oil below $42 per barrel that week. The report says: “Global oil supply rose by about 0.8 mb/d in July, as both OPEC and non-OPEC production increased”. Middle East production lifted total OPEC crude supply 680 kb/d above a year ago and held output at an eight-year high, according to the agency’s analysis.
As a result of lower demand growth and higher non-OPEC output, the IEA cut its call on OPEC crude for 2017 by 0.2 million bpd to 33.5 million bpd.
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It forecast global refinery throughput to rise by 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) to a record 80.6 million bpd in the third quarter of 2016.
