Oil price gains limited
by higher OPEC output, U.S. crude stocks
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[October 13, 2016]
By Ahmad Ghaddar
LONDON
(Reuters) - The price of crude oil climbed on Thursday, gaining support
from record Chinese imports, but gains were limited after OPEC said its
production had risen to the highest level in at least eight years and
following reports of an increase in U.S. crude stocks.
Brent crude futures were trading at $51.91 per barrel at 1037 GMT, up 10
cents from their previous close.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 3 cents, at $50.21 per
barrel.
Traders said oil markets had come under pressure after the Organization
of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reported a rise in output.
"Crude responded predictably, with both Brent and WTI falling," said
Jeffrey Halley of brokerage OANDA.
OPEC on Wednesday reported its oil production climbed in September to an
eight-year high of 33.39 million barrels per day. It also raised its
forecast for 2017 non-OPEC supply growth, pointing to a larger surplus
next year despite the group's decision to limit output.
But some investors see the OPEC plan to curb output as a reason to take
a bullish stance on the prospects for crude prices.
"In 2014 the big opportunity was in prices going down and now the big
opportunity is in prices going up. That’s the way I see it," hedge fund
manager Pierre Andurand told the Reuters Commodities Summit.
He added that OPEC's decision in Algiers to limit its overall output to
32.5-33 million bpd "takes off a large wild card from the oil markets
for 2017."
Traders are also eyeing official U.S. inventory data due to be released
later today.
The private American Petroleum Institute reported on Wednesday that U.S.
crude inventories rose by 2.7 million barrels to 470.9 million barrels
in the week to Oct. 7. This would be the first rise in oil stocks
following five straight weeks of declines.
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A gas pump is seen hanging from the ceiling at a petrol station in
Seoul June 27, 2011. REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak/File Photo
But
the market received some support from China, which imported record volumes of
crude oil last month, eclipsing the United States as the world's top buyer of
foreign oil for the third time in a year, in a trend that could soon put the
Asian nation at the top of the world's oil import table permanently.
China's September crude imports rose 18 percent from a year earlier to 33.06
million tonnes, or 8.04 million bpd on daily basis, customs data showed,
compared with the U.S. four-week average of 7.98 million bpd.
Oil imports hit a record despite a worse-than-expected 10 percent fall in
Chinese exports and a 1.9 percent drop in imports that cast a gloomy outlook on
its economy.
(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein in Singapore; Editing by Elaine
Hardcastle)
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