Oil Lower in Thursday Trade
NEW YORK (DTN) -- New York Mercantile Exchange oil futures were lower at the start of regular trade Thursday morning as traders booked profits after the market rallied day prior on data that showed a steep drop in domestic crude oil stocks and hope the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would finalize an agreement to reduce their crude oil production next month.
The Energy Information Administration said crude stocks unexpectedly plunged 5.3 million bbl for the week-ended Oct. 14, with supplies at the Cushing supply hub in Oklahoma, drawn down 1.6 million bbl to 59.7 million bbl.
On products, distillate fuel supplies declined 1.3 million bbl while gasoline stocks posted a 2.5 million bbl build, EIA said, with demand for refined products down for the week profiled.
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At last look, NYMEX November West Texas Intermediate crude futures were $1.02 lower at $50.58 bbl ahead of expiration this afternoon, with the December contract down $1.02 at $50.80 bbl. On Wednesday, the November WTI contract rallied to a 15-month spot high of $51.93.
The December Brent futures contract on the IntercontinentalExchange tumbled $1.06 to $51.61 bbl, off a two-day low of $51.57.
In products trade, NYMEX November ULSD futures were 3.30cts lower at $1.5549 gallon, off a two-day low of $1.5874. The November RBOB futures contract was down 2.65cts at $1.4871 gallon, off a $1.4852 three-day low.
Internationally, Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said on Wednesday that non-OPEC producers such as Russia were willing to cut their output in coordination with OPEC.
OPEC hopes to finalize their Sept. 28 agreement to limit output to a 32.5 to 33.0 million bpd range when they meet in late November, but some analysts remain skeptical they will stick to their deal given complaints already being raised by some cartel members over their planned output quotas.
OPEC production increased 220,000 bpd in September to average 33.39 million bpd, OPEC said last week, citing secondary sources. A technical committee created under the Sept. 28 Algiers accord will meet for two days in late October ahead of the Vienna summit to work out details about implementation of the deal including output quotas for individual OPEC member countries.
George Orwel can be reached at george.orwel@dtn.com
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