Oil price halts slide as investors weigh US stockpiles against Libya

Oil halts slide as investors weigh US stockpiles against Libya copy


Bloomberg

Oil halted its slide below $45 a barrel as investors weigh
a forecast decline in US crude stockpiles against a revival
in output from Libya, which
is exempt from the OPEC
-led cuts.
Futures rose 0.3 percent in New York after falling 1.2 percent. US inventories probably shrank by 1.2 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg survey before Energy Information Administration data on Wednesday. Libya is pumping the most oil in four years after a deal with Wintershall AG enabled at least two fields to resume production.
Oil slid below $45 a barrel to the lowest close in seven months on Thursday amid concerns that rising US supplies will offset output cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia. Traders are storing more crude at sea amid swelling production in the Atlantic region, a sign the market is far from rebalancing.
“Investors will continue to cut positions until larger inventory declines materialize,” said Giovanni Staunovo, an analyst at UBS Group AG.
West Texas Intermediate for July delivery, which expires on Tuesday, was at $44.32 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:30 a.m. in London. Total volume traded was about 12 percent below the 100-day average. The more-active August contract rose 16 cents to $44.59 at 9:09 a.m. in London.
Brent for August settlement climbed 16 cents to $47.07 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices fell 1 percent to $46.91 on Monday. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.49 to August WTI.
US crude stockpiles remain more than 100 million barrels above the five-year average, according to data from the EIA. American production has climbed to 9.33 million barrels a day through June 9, near the highest since August 2015.
Libya is pumping about 900,000 barrels a day, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified
for lack of authority to speak to the media. Oil stored
in tankers reached a 2017
high of 111.9 million barrels earlier this month, according to Paris-based tracking
company Kpler SAS.

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