Oil down 2 pct as players take profit on OPEC-fuele
- by Dan Gutierrez
- in Markets
- — Oct 17, 2016
Thursday's rally was also supported by storm-related disruptions coming from southeastern U.S. This is expected to reduce overall inventory levels. This was a smaller contraction than the 7.6 million barrel weekly fall projected by the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday.
Total U.S. crude inventories, excluding the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell below 500 million barrels for the first time since January, to 499.7 million.
However, OPEC didn't make an agreement on the quota of individual countries, which was expected to be decided on the next OPEC meeting in Vienna on November 30. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 91 cents at $49.60. Despite doubts about the particulars of the deal and skepticism about whether the cartel will be able to follow through, oil has rallied to its highest prices since June. The global benchmark traded at a US$1.46 premium to WTI for December. He posted a 36 per cent loss past year, his worst, by underestimating the potent supply from US shale oil. Stockpiles remain at the highest seasonal level in more than 20 years.
Traders said a decline in prices early in Thursday's session reflected a weaker physical crude market after top exporter Saudi Arabia cut the price of its crudes to Asia for November in a sign that the global fuel glut is persisting. Analysts expect a rise in crude stocks of 2.6 million barrels. "Prices rise, regardless of the news flow and any dip is being seen as a buying opportunity", said Carsten Fritsch, commodities strategist for Commerzbank.
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Indeed, when the Cubs visited Dodger Stadium in late August, Kershaw was still on the disabled list with a back issue. The game was tied 2-2 going into the eleventh inning when Edwin Encarnacion hit a game walk-off three-run home run.
United States refinery utilization rates USOIRU=ECI slid the past four weeks, dropping almost two percentage points last week to 88.3 per cent of nationwide capacity.
Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at brokerage OANDA, said that at $50 a barrel for WTI, U.S. shale drillers, who have spent much of the year cutting back production amid low prices, may start bringing back rigs.
The five-week run of drawdowns has surprised some because it was kicked off with a 14 million-barrel drop - the largest plunge since 1999 - at the beginning of September as imports were disrupted by severe Gulf Coast weather. It was also reported that OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers are planning to meet in Istanbul on October 8 - 13 to discuss how to implement a production deal OPEC members reached in Algiers late last month.
