An oil pumping jack in an oil field in Kansas, U.S. Photographer: Angus Mordant/Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) — Oil extended a run of listless trading as traders awaited US inventory data due later and assessed a persistent outlook for oversupply.
West Texas Intermediate was a little lower near $60, with prices undulating in a band of about $2 since early last week.
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US crude inventories rose 6.5 million barrels last week, according to the American Petroleum Institute, which would be the biggest increase since July if confirmed by official data later Wednesday; fuel inventories declined.
Brent crude has fallen about 14% this year as increased production from OPEC+ and non-member nations amplified concerns that a global glut would form. The boss of commodities trader Mercuria said at the Adipec conference on Wednesday that an oversupply in the oil market is slowly forming and likely to be as much as 2 million barrels a day next year.
“Currently, several opposing factors appear to be keeping oil prices within a narrow range,” said Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, chief analyst at A/S Global Risk Management, including US inventory data, OPEC+ supply moves and sanctions on Russia, he said.
Meanwhile, India’s Reliance Industries, usually a major buyer of crude, sold a shipment of Iraqi oil to a refiner in Europe. The reasons for the move were unclear, but there’s heightened focus on the activity of Indian refiners after the US sanctioned Russia’s two largest oil producers, setting the stage for a possible slump in purchases from Moscow.
–With assistance from John Deane.
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