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Oil pares weekly gain as surging OPEC crude output swells glut

12 June 2015 10:33 (UTC+04:00)
Oil pares weekly gain as surging OPEC crude output swells glut

By Bloomberg

Oil fell for a second day, trimming a weekly advance on signs the global glut will persist as OPEC’s biggest members pumped crude at a record pace.

Futures dropped as much as 0.6 percent in New York. Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates each produced at a record in May, the International Energy Agency reported Thursday. U.S. output also expanded while stockpiles remained more than 90 million barrels above the five-year average for this time of the year, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Oil’s recovery from a six-year low has faltered near $60 a barrel as a 40 percent gain since March drives global production. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries last week decided to maintain its quota as it sought to defend market share against higher-cost producers.

“OPEC output will make it difficult for oil to rally too much further from here,” Ric Spooner, a chief analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, said by phone. “For meaningful cuts in production, the U.S. will need to assume the role as swing producer and the market is waiting for that to happen.”

West Texas Intermediate for July delivery declined as much as 38 cents to $60.39 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $60.41 at 3:10 p.m. Sydney time. It lost 66 cents to $60.77 on Thursday. Total volume was about 66 percent below the 100-day average. Prices, up 2.2 percent this week, have increased almost 14 percent in 2015.

OPEC Supply

Brent for July settlement slid as much as 36 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $64.75 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of $4.41 to WTI, compared with $4.18 at the end of last week. The more-active August Brent contract was down 28 cents at $65.51.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter, boosted output to 10.25 million barrels a day last month, the highest level since the IEA began tracking the kingdom’s supply in 1984. OPEC’s own data go back further and show Saudi Arabia pumped the most since August 1981.

Production from OPEC’s 12 members rose by 50,000 barrels a day to 31.33 million, the highest since August 2012, said the IEA, the energy adviser to developed economies. Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the U.A.E. account for at least 18 percent of global oil output.

OPEC maintained its quota at 30 million barrels a day at a June 5 meeting in Vienna. The group has pumped above that target for the past 12 months, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.

In the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer, crude inventories decreased for a sixth week through June 5 to 470.6 million barrels, the EIA said Wednesday. Production climbed to 9.61 million a day, the fastest pace in data compiled by the Energy Department’s statistical arm since January 1983.

Sixteen of 26 analysts and traders, or 62 percent, were bearish on WTI, according to a Bloomberg survey through Thursday. Six respondents were bullish while four were neutral.

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