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Oil down on record U.S.
crude stocks, flat Russian output
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 [March 02, 2017]
By Christopher Johnson
LONDON
(Reuters) - Oil prices fell on Thursday after U.S. crude stocks hit an
all-time high and official data showed Russian oil production unchanged
in February, with no further cuts to tighten the market and drain global
oversupply.
Benchmark Brent crude oil was down 50 cents a barrel at $55.86 by 1125
GMT. U.S. light crude was 50 cents lower at $53.33.
Crude inventories in the United States, the world's biggest oil
consumer, rose by 1.5 million barrels last week to a record 520.2
million barrels, official figures showed.
Russia's oil output was unchanged in February from January at 11.11
million barrels per day (bpd), signaling a pause in Moscow's efforts to
curb production as part of a global deal, energy ministry data showed on
Thursday.
Crude oil prices slipped after the release of the Russian data but
remained locked within tight trading ranges, supported by evidence of
OPEC production cuts designed to reduce the oversupply that has weighed
on prices for more than two years.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its oil output
for a second month in February, a Reuters survey found, showing the
exporter group has boosted already strong compliance to around 94
percent. [OPEC/O]
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A worker walks past a pump jack on an oil field owned by Bashneft in
Bashkortostan, Russia, January 28, 2015. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File
Photo
"There is a very stale smell hanging over the market," Ole Hansen, head
of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank in Denmark, told Reuters Global Oil
Forum.
"I still see the risk of $50 a barrel before $60 on Brent, but have to
acknowledge that we have so far seen very limited selling appetite."
Wang Tao, Reuters market analyst for commodities and energy technicals,
said Brent remains neutral in a range of $55.93-$57.26 a barrel, and
could move out of this price band in either direction.
U.S. crude looks more bearish, the Reuters analyst said, and could drop
to $53.21 a barrel, as it had cleared support at $53.87.
(Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Dale
Hudson and Susan Thomas)
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