On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading up 0.1 per cent at $US46.37 a barrel.
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A more accurate snapshot on supplies in storage is scheduled to be released late Wednesday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Investors are also keeping an eye on manufacturing data from China, Japan and the eurozone later on Wednesday. Gasoline futures lost almost 1 percent, extending Wednesday’s 4-percent tumble, amid worries of peak turnout from US refineries as the autumn maintenance cycle draws to a close.
Still, a bigger-than-expected increase in USA oil stockpiles and strong production numbers out of Russian Federation kept gains in check. “Oil prices will remain under pressure as long as the surplus remains in the market”, the bank added, referring to global production being 1-2 million barrels per day above demand.
The USA crude oil refinery demand rose by 21,000 bpd (barrels per day) to 15.6 MMbpd (million barrels per day) for the week ending October 30, 2015. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.35 to WTI.
Diesel is down across the board in all regions – with the exception of California, which saw a 4 tenths of a cent increase to $2.817 from last week’s $2.813.
United States gold futures for December delivery settled down 0.7 per cent at $US1,106.20 an ounce. Supplies are more than 100 million barrels higher than the five-year seasonal average.
US oil output also rose last week, the latest sign of the resilience of American drillers despite the low prices.
“The main driver behind the down move is that more market participants now believe that the Fed will begin raising rates this year”, Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann said.
OPEC is likely to stick to its no-cut oil output policy when it meets in December if major producers from outside the group are not willing to help in reducing supplies, a senior Gulf OPEC delegate said on Thursday. Current OPEC basket price comes in at just under $44/bbl, but OPEC is calling for $55/bbl by the end of 2015, $60/bbl in 2016, and a steady rise of $5/bbl per year to reach $80/bbl by 2020. Distillate fuel inventories decreased by 1.3 million barrels last week but are in the middle of the average range for this time of year.
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Libya’s Tripoli-based National Oil Corp. declared force majeure, a clause allowing it to suspend deliveries, on crude shipments from Zueitina.
