Oil extends decline in bear market amid signs glut will persist
By Bloomberg
Oil extended declines in a bear market amid signs producers from the Middle East to the U.S. will continue adding supplies to a global glut.
Futures slid as much as 1 percent in New York, dropping for a fifth day. Oil exports from southern Iraq rose to a record this month, while a Bloomberg survey forecasts U.S. crude stockpiles expanded for a second week through July 24. Brent in London closed Monday more than 20 percent lower than its peak reached in May, meeting the common definition of a bear market.
Oil’s rebound from a six-year low has faltered on signs the global surplus will persist as the U.S. produces near the fastest rate in three decades and leading OPEC members pump at a record. The Bloomberg Commodity Index dropped for a fourth straight session Monday, extending its plunge to a 13-year low.
“Given the commitment from oil producing groups and nations to maintain supply, or even increase, it doesn’t look like we’re near the bottom,” Michael McCarthy, a chief strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, said by phone. “There’s ongoing concern about the lack of a supply side response in the face of what appears to be crumbling demand.”
West Texas Intermediate for September delivery fell as much as 47 cents to $46.92 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $47.13 at 1:49 p.m. Sydney time. The contract dropped 75 cents to $47.39 on Monday, the lowest close since March 20. The volume of all futures traded was about 43 percent below the 100-day average. Prices have lost 23 percent from their closing peak this year on June 10.
Iraq Shipments
Brent for September settlement slid as much as 58 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $52.89 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It fell $1.15 to $53.47 on Monday, the lowest close since March 16. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $5.94 to WTI.
Exports from southern Iraq, the second-biggest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, increased to 3.064 million barrels a day in July and will remain at about the same level for the rest of the month, Thaer Yassin, a spokesman for the state-owned South Oil Co., said Monday. This compares with 3.020 million barrels a day in June.
In the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer, inventories probably expanded by 700,000 barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg survey before an Energy Information Administration report Wednesday. A gain will keep supplies about 100 million barrels above the five-year average.
The Bloomberg Commodity Index of 22 raw materials was little changed on Tuesday after dropping to the lowest level since March 2002 on Monday amid concern slower economic growth in China will crimp demand.
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