Oil headed for a weekly decline as rising U.S. crude inventories and new production elsewhere signaled that global markets will remain comfortably supplied.
Futures slipped 0.5% in New York, bringing the loss this week to 1.3%. U.S. government data showed stockpiles expanded by 2.22 million barrels last week as production rose to a record, while the International Energy Agency said fresh supplies from America and beyond will continue to “calm” world markets in 2020. OPEC gave further signals it won’t step up efforts to support prices.
Oil is down 15% since an April peak as the spat between Beijing and Washington over trade dents demand and global inventories swell. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has indicated it won’t cut output deeper to stave off the impending surplus and predicts worldwide supplies will exceed demand by about 645,000 barrels a day in the first half of next year.
West Texas Intermediate for December delivery fell 28 cents to $56.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 10:39 a.m. London time. The contract slid 35 cents to $56.77 on Thursday.
Brent for January settlement dropped 48 cents, or 0.8%, to $61.80 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe Exchange. The contract is down 1.1% this week. The global benchmark crude traded at a $5.19 premium to WTI for the same month.
Source : Bloomberg