(Bloomberg) -- Oil extended a decline toward $60 a barrel as U.S. crude inventories are seen rising for a fourth consecutive week.
Crude in New York fell as much as 1.5 percent after futures on Wednesday closed lower for the first time in about a week. Inventories in American tanks and terminals probably increased by 2.9 million barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg survey before the Energy Information Administration’s release scheduled on Thursday. By contrast, the American Petroleum Institute was said to report they fell by 907,000 barrels.
Oil is struggling to regain the highs of January after a sell-off in global equities spread to commodities earlier this month. Rising U.S. crude output continues to be a major challenge for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to balance the market through production cuts.
“Even if we see U.S. stockpiles drawing again, we should pay more attention to surging American crude output,” Will Yun, a commodities analyst at Hyundai Futures Corp., said by phone in Seoul. “There is more room for oil to trend downward for now with the increase in U.S. production having a deeper impact on prices.”
West Texas Intermediate for April delivery fell as much as 93 cents to $60.75 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and traded at $60.98 at 10:30 a.m. in Singapore. The contract lost 11 cents to close at $61.68 on Wednesday. Total volume traded was about the same as the 100-day average.
Brent for April settlement was down 57 cents at $64.85 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices gained 17 cents to close at $65.42 on Wednesday. The global benchmark crude traded at a $3.87 premium to WTI.
