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By Bloomberg

West Texas Intermediate traded below $75 a barrel as U.S. crude inventories increased and investors weighed the likelihood of OPEC reducing its production. Brent was steady in London.

Futures were little changed in New York after three days of losses. Stockpiles in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer, expanded by 2.6 million barrels to 381.1 million last week, the Energy Information Administration reported yesterday. A decline of 1.5 million was projected in a Bloomberg News survey of analysts. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries should trim excess supply and cut its output target, said Samir Kamal, Libya’s governor to the group.

Oil has slumped into a bear market as the U.S. pumps at the fastest rate in more than three decades amid signs of weakening demand. Leading OPEC members are resisting calls to reduce output while others including Venezuela seek action to support prices before a Nov. 27 meeting in Vienna.

“Concerns about the global growth outlook and the increases in supply are playing out in the energy complex,” Michael McCarthy, a chief strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, said by phone. “Even if there’s a statement from OPEC that agrees that there should be production cuts, there will be real skepticism that they can be delivered.”

WTI for January delivery, the most-actively traded, was at $74.69 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 19 cents, at 3:56 p.m. Singapore time. The December contract, which expires today, was up 10 cents at $74.68. Total volume was about 30 percent above the 100-day average. Front- month prices have decreased 24 percent this year.

Cushing Supplies

Brent for January settlement was 9 cents higher at $78.19 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $3.55 to WTI for the same month, compared with $3.60 yesterday.

Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI contracts, rose by 718,000 barrels to 23.2 million in the week ended Nov. 14, the EIA data showed. That’s the highest level since May.

Gasoline inventories climbed by 1 million barrels to 204.6 million, according to the Energy Department’s statistical arm. Distillate fuels, which include heating oil and diesel, shrank by 2.1 million to 114.8 million.

OPEC, which supplies about 40 percent of the world’s oil, pumped 30.97 million barrels a day in October, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That exceeded its collective production target of 30 million a day, first agreed in January 2012, for a fifth straight month.

OPEC Supply

A total reduction of 500,000 barrels a day by OPEC is needed following the drop in oil prices, Kamal said yesterday in comments made in his personal capacity. Compliance to the quota is a “minimum wish,” he said.

In Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro said on state television that oil at about $100 a barrel is “fair.” The nation, which held discussions with Russia in recent days, plans to continue to meet with international partners to address prices, he said.

The prospect of contributing to output cuts is unthinkable for some OPEC members and any accord at next week’s gathering probably won’t stick, according to Torbjoern Kjus, an Oslo-based analyst at DNB ASA, Norway’s largest bank. Libya, Nigeria and Iran are unlikely to contribute to a supply reduction, he said.