Oil Rises More On U.S. Crude Draw, Pares Gains On OPEC Doubt
NEW YORK, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Oil prices rallied again on Thursday, boosted for a second day by U.S. government data that showed a surprising crude inventory drop, but crude futures pared gains as traders worried that OPEC was not nearing an agreement to reduce a global glut.
Oil prices got more support from the dollar's slide a day after the Federal Reserve kept U.S. interest rates unchanged.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled up 98 cents, or 2.2 percent, at $46.32 a barrel. The session high for WTI was $46.52.
Brent crude futures rose 82 cents, or 1.8 percent, to settle at $47.65. The session peak for Brent was $47.83.
Week-to-date, WTI rose 8 percent and Brent 4 percent, on track to their biggest weekly advance in nearly a month.
Crude futures gave back some gains after Reuters reported that a two-day expert-level meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on production cooperation had yielded no major breakthrough.
The meeting was held in advance of Sept. 26-28 talks in Algeria between OPEC and other major oil producers to discuss a potential output freeze.
"A production freeze won't be enough, we need real cuts," said Phil Davis, trader at PSW Investments in Woodland Park, New Jersey. "I'm shorting WTI once it gets to $47.50 because I don't think anything good will come out of these talks."
Tariq Zahir of Tyche Capital Advisors in New York said even if cuts were agreed on, they will have to be enforced "and OPEC doesn't have history on its side for compliance".
Oil has rallied several times this year on hints of output curbs by OPEC and other oil exporters, only to fall later as production rose. Saudi and Russian production are at record highs while Libya and Nigeria are restarting key crude exports that were stalled.
This week, oil rose after Wednesday's report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) that crude stockpiles fell 6.2 million barrels last week, bringing the draw to more than 21 million barrels for this month.
Also supportive for prices was a forecast by New York-based PIRA Energy Group, that it expects the EIA to report a further drop of 2.85 million barrels next week.
Some doubted PIRA's forecast, citing the 213,000-barrel build at the Cushing, Oklahoma delivery hub for WTI futures for the week to Sept. 20 reported on Thursday by energy monitoring service Genscape. The Genscape report followed EIA data showing a build of 526,000 barrels at Cushing for the week ended Sept. 16.
"We also feel that the market will need to recognize bearish aspects within the (EIA) data," Jim Ritterbusch of Chicago-based oil markets consultancy Ritterbusch & Associates said, citing rising U.S. crude production and oil rigs.
(Additional reporting by Amanda Cooper in LONDON and Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE; Editing by Marguerita Choy, David Clarke and David Gregorio)
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Weatherford CEO's Rebound Plan Relies On Getting Smaller
- Iran Says Oil Market Is Too Tight For US Zero Exports Target
- China's Squeezed 'Teapots' Eye Petchem Path To Riches
- Baker Hughes: US Drillers Add Oil Rigs For Second Week In Three
- Venezuela Hands China More Oil Presence, But No Mention Of New Funds
- Falcon Oil Declares Commercial Flow Test Results for Shenandoah Well
- Japan Failing to Meet Corporate Demand for Clean Power: Amazon
- Macquarie Strategists Expect Brent Oil Price to Grind Higher
- UK Oil Regulator Publishes New Emissions Reduction Plan
- PetroChina Posts Higher Annual Profit on Higher Production
- McDermott Settles Reficar Dispute
- US, SKorea Launch Task Force to Stop Illicit Refined Oil Flows into NKorea
- Pennsylvania County Joins List of Local Govts Suing Big Oil over Climate
- Russian Navy Enters Warship-Crowded Red Sea Amid Houthi Attacks
- USA Commercial Crude Oil Inventories Increase
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Equinor Makes Discovery in North Sea
- Standard Chartered Reiterates $94 Brent Call
- India Halts Russia Oil Supplies From Sanctioned Tanker Giant
- DOI Announces Proposal for Second GOM Offshore Wind Auction
- Centcom, Dryad Outline Recent Moves Around Red Sea Region
- PetroChina Set to Receive Venezuelan Oil
- Czech Conglomerate to Buy Major Stake in Gasnet for $917MM
- US DOE Offers $44MM in Funding to Boost Clean Power Distribution
- Oil Settles Lower as Stronger Dollar Offsets Tighter Market
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Another Major Oilfield Discovery
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- New China Climate Chief Says Fossil Fuels Must Keep a Role
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension
- Equinor Makes Discovery in North Sea