U.S. oil prices stabilize after 6-percent slump, but market remains on edge

By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – U.S. oil prices stabilized on Wednesday after slumping more than 6 percent the previous day, with some support coming from a report of an unexpected drop in U.S. commercial crude inventories.

But investors remained on edge, with the International Energy Agency (IEA) warning of unprecedented uncertainty in oil markets due to a difficult economic environment and political risk.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures (), were at $53.57 per barrel at 0028 GMT, up 14 cents from their last settlement.

Front-month Brent crude oil futures () had yet to trade.

Wednesday’s more stable prices came following a report by the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday that U.S. commercial crude oil inventories had fallen unexpectedly by 1.5 million barrels, to 439.2 million barrels, in the week to Nov. 16.

Yet the slight increase in WTI could not cover up general market weakness, with oil and stock markets both plunging the previous session.

“The global economy is still going through a very difficult time and is very fragile,” IEA chief Fatih Birol told Reuters on Tuesday.

Fearing a glut like in 2014, when high global output and a slowdown in demand growth triggered a price crash, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is pushing for a supply cut of between 1 million and 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd).

Despite the expectation of OPEC-led cuts, Brent and WTI prices have slumped by 28 and 30 percent respectively since early October.

“Investors are becoming increasingly concerned that any potential production cuts by OPEC will be insufficient to cover the surplus in the market,” ANZ bank said on Wednesday.

“The list of reasons for the decline are pretty specific … too much supply and a risk of slowing demand growth,” said James Mick, Energy Portfolio Manager with U.S. investment firm Tortoise.

“Part of the supply issue has been surging U.S. production,” he added, referring to an output increase of almost a quarter in the United States , to a record 11.7 million barrels per day (bpd).

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