Oil slips after U.S. stock build reasserts glut concerns

[March 23, 2016]  By Ahmad Ghaddar

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices eased on Wednesday after figures from an industry group showed U.S. crude stockpiles rose last week by more than expected, reinforcing concerns that a global glut continues unabated.

U.S. crude futures fell 33 cents to $41.12 a barrel by 0945 GMT. Prices struck a 2016 high of $41.90 in the previous session. The contract has rebounded more than 50 percent after hitting its lowest since 2003 in February.

Brent crude was down 25 cents a barrel at $41.54, still up more than 50 percent from a multi-year low of $27.10 hit in January.

"Net supply in the short term should still be in excess and thus brings us to believe that the current uptrend is unsustainable," Phillip Futures analyst Daniel Ang said in a note.

Traders such as Vitol, Gunvor and Glencore are betting on oil markets remaining oversupplied for at least two more years.

Traders are looking to extend or lock in new leases on storage tanks for crude and refined products in key hubs as far out as the end of 2018, sources at storage firms and trading houses say.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) said on Tuesday that U.S. crude inventories rose by 8.8 million barrels last week, a gain almost three times higher than that predicted in a Reuters poll.

Official crude inventory data from the U.S. government will be released later on Wednesday.

Oil prices rebounded on supply disruptions from Nigeria and Iraq and on discussions over a proposed output freeze by members and non-members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The possible deal to stabilize production was snubbed as "meaningless" by the head of the International Energy Agency's oil industry and markets division, Neil Atkinson, on Wednesday.

"Amongst the group of countries (potentially participating) that we're aware of, only Saudi Arabia has any ability to increase its production," Atkinson said.

"So a freeze on production is perhaps rather meaningless. It's more some kind of gesture which perhaps is aimed ... to build confidence that there will be stability in oil prices."

Qatar has invited all 13 OPEC members to Doha on April 17 for another round of talks to widen the production deal..

Libya and Iran have snubbed the initiative, arguing that they will need to boost their crude output further before considering joining any caps on production.

(Additional reporting by Aaron Sheldrick in Tokyo; Editing by Dale Hudson)

[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.