Oil Near $49 as Market Weighs Lower Stockpiles, Higher Output

Futures added 0.3 percent in New York after dropping 0.8 percent the previous two sessions. U.S. inventories slid by 7.8 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report Tuesday, while a Bloomberg survey also forecast a decline. The Energy Information Administration marginally boosted its estimates for American production in 2017 and 2018.

“The recovery this morning is most likely in anticipation of a sixth inventory decline in crude oil this afternoon” when the EIA releases its weekly stockpiles report, said Ole Sloth Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S in Copenhagen. Gains will be capped by a stronger dollar, he said.

West Texas Intermediate for September delivery rose 15 cents to $49.32 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:44 a.m. London time. Total volume traded was about 14 percent below the 100-day average. Prices lost 22 cents to $49.17 on Tuesday.

Brent for October settlement advanced 14 cents to $52.28 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, after sliding 23 cents on Tuesday. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.79 to October WTI.
more at:  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-09/oil-holds-losses-as-higher-u-s-output-forecasts-counters-cuts