|
The North Sea oil benchmark recovered some
ground later but was on track for its weakest month since the
global financial crisis of 2008, and traders said the sell-off
that has halved crude prices in six months showed no sign of
coming to an end.
Brent fell $1.14 a barrel to $56.74, its lowest since May 2009,
before recovering to trade around $57.70 by 1215 GMT. U.S. crude
fell 20 cents to $53.41 after hitting $52.70 - also its lowest
since May 2009.
Oil markets have been heavily oversupplied this year due to
increasing output of high quality, light oil from U.S. shale and
lower-than-expected consumption as a result of faltering global
economic growth and competition from alternative fuels.
Several members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries have suffered supply disruptions in recent months, but
this has had little impact on prices.
In Libya, clashes between rival factions have closed oil ports
and terminals this month, reducing exports from the OPEC
producer, which used to sell over 1 million barrels per day of
crude to world markets, to almost nothing.
OPEC, which pumps a third of the world's oil, had been expected
to trim output to try to stabilise prices, but it decided in
November to keep production unchanged and let the market find
its own level.
PVM Oil Associates analyst Tamas Varga saw no let-up in the
sell-off, saying "the bears" were in firm control of the market.
"The trend is still down and supports are expected to be under
pressure. It is not recommended to go against this trend."
Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said Brent may fall to $54.98
while U.S. oil is expected to drop to $52.10.
Investors awaited U.S. inventory data. The American Petroleum
Institute was scheduled to release data on Tuesday while the
U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration
will issue data on Wednesday.
A Reuters poll forecast U.S. crude inventories would show a drop
of 900,000 barrels, after a rise to their highest recorded level
for December in the week ended on Dec. 19.
(Additional reporting by Keith Wallis in Singapore; editing by
Jason Neely)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
