Oil Slides Near $50 on Signs U.S. Fuel Stockpiles Increased

Futures lost as much as 1 percent in New York, after falling 2.4 percent in the previous two sessions. Gasoline supplies rose by 4.91 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report. That will be the biggest gain since January if replicated in government data Wednesday. Libya is gradually resuming output at its biggest oil field, people familiar with the matter said.

“After the steep rally of recent weeks, it seems quite logical that the market runs into some resistance, triggering waves of profit-taking,” said Hans van Cleef, senior energy economist at ABN Amro Bank NV in Amsterdam.

West Texas Intermediate for November delivery slid as much as 51 cents to $49.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $50.08 at 9:55 a.m. in London. Total volume traded was about 31 percent below the 100-day average. Prices fell 16 cents to $50.42 on Tuesday.

Brent for December settlement dropped 48 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $55.52 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices lost 12 cents to $56 on Tuesday. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $5.15 to December WTI.

Nationwide crude stockpiles fell by 4.08 million barrels last week, the API said Tuesday, according to people familiar with the data. Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, climbed by 2.08 million barrels. An Energy Information Administration report Wednesday is forecast to show supplies slid by 500,000 barrels, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey.
more at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-03/oil-extends-losses-near-50-on-signs-u-s-fuel-stockpiles-gained