Oil Holds Near 3-Week Low as U.S. Output Climbs to Two-Year High

Futures were 0.4 percent lower in New York after falling 4.2 percent the previous three sessions. U.S. production had its biggest weekly gain since the end of June, climbing to the highest level since July 2015, according to Energy Information Administration data Wednesday. The increase offset the price impact of an 8.95-million-barrel decline in crude stockpiles, the biggest drop since September.

“On the current weekly trend, U.S. production is only about 4 weeks away from reaching the production high of June 2015,” said Olivier Jakob, managing director at Petromatrix GmbH in Zug, Switzerland.

West Texas Intermediate for September delivery was at $46.61 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 17 cents, at 12:38 p.m. in London. Total volume traded was in line with the 100-day average. Prices lost 77 cents to $46.78 on Wednesday, the lowest close since July 24.

Brent for October settlement slipped 11 cents to $50.16 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices decreased 53 cents, or 1 percent, to $50.27 on Wednesday. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $3.38 to October WTI.

U.S. crude output rose by 79,000 barrels a day last week to 9.5 million a day, the EIA reported. Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI and the biggest U.S. oil-storage hub, expanded a second week to 57 million barrels. Gasoline inventories climbed by 22,000 barrels to 231 million.
more at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-16/oil-holds-near-3-week-low-as-u-s-output-climbs-to-2-year-high

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