Oil Slips on Signs U.S. Inventories Gained Ahead of OPEC Meeting

Futures lost as much as 0.9 percent in New York after falling 1.6 percent the previous two sessions. U.S. crude inventories rose by 1.82 million barrels last week, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report, even as it noted a large decline at the storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma. While all OPEC members support extending output curbs until the end of 2018, Russia hasn’t yet committed to the proposal, said people familiar with the matter.

Oil has eased this week from the highest level in more than two years on uncertainty about the outcome of Thursday’s meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. While the global glut relative to the five-year average has more than halved since January, the surplus still stands at 140 million barrels, OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said Monday.

“The overall small build, when you consider the big draw that we had in Cushing, is on the bearish side for crude oil,” said Olivier Jakob, managing director of Petromatrix GmbH, in reference to the API report. “After that it’s really about OPEC tomorrow. Reading the small print in the communique is going to be important.”

U.S. crude stockpiles at Cushing, the delivery point for WTI and the biggest U.S. oil-storage hub, fell by 3.18 million barrels last week, the API said, according to people familiar with the data. Nationwide inventories are forecast to have dropped by 2.95 million barrels, according to a Bloomberg survey before an Energy Information Administration report due Wednesday.
more at:  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-28/oil-extends-drop-on-signs-u-s-inventories-rose-before-opec-meet