Oil Trades Near $56 After Slump
Futures were little changed in New York after tumbling 2.9 percent Wednesday, the biggest daily drop since Oct. 6. Motor-fuel stockpiles rose by 6.78 million barrels last week for a fourth weekly advance, according to Energy Information Administration data. That’s more than double the most bearish estimate in a Bloomberg survey. U.S. oil output increased to a record.
“The decline in crude-oil inventories was offset by an even larger increase in product inventories,” said Norbert Ruecker, head of commodity research at Julius Baer Group Ltd. in Zurich. “We stick to our cautious view and see more price downside than upside.”
Oil has advanced about 18 percent since the start of September and is heading for a second yearly gain as OPEC and its allies extend supply cuts, yet prices have slipped from a two-year high last month. A sustained run above $60 a barrel would be needed for a fresh surge in U.S. output, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in a note after talks with shale operators in the Permian basin.
U.S. crude inventories fell by 5.61 million barrels last week, the EIA reported Wednesday. Oil production expanded for a seventh week to 9.7 million barrels a day, the highest level in weekly data compiled by the EIA since 1983.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-06/oil-holds-losses-near-56-as-u-s-gasoline-inventories-increase