Investing.com - U.S. oil prices slumped to a more than two-month low on Thursday, amid expectations weekly supply data due later in the session will show U.S. crude inventories rose for the seventh consecutive week last week.
Crude oil for delivery in December on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped 70 cents, or 1.64%, to trade at $42.23 a barrel during U.S. morning hours. It earlier fell to $42.11, the lowest since August 28.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its weekly report on oil supplies at 11:00AM ET Thursday. The data was expected to show that crude inventories rose by 1.1 million barrels last week. The report comes out one day later than usual due to Wednesday's Veterans Day's holiday in the U.S.
The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said on Tuesday that U.S. crude inventories rose by 6.3 million barrels in the week ended November 6.
Despite a tighter production outlook in the U.S., total crude inventories stood near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for January delivery hit an intraday low of $45.91 a barrel, a level not seen since August 27, before trading at $45.98, down 62 cents, or 1.34%.
Oil prices have been on the decline in recent months as ongoing worries over the health of the global economy fueled concerns that a global supply glut may stick around for longer than anticipated.
Global oil production is outpacing demand following a boom in U.S. shale oil production and after a decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries last year not to cut production.
In its October monthly report released Thursday, OPEC largely maintained its forecasts for oil demand growth and supply for this year and next. The oil cartel said surplus oil inventories are at the highest level in at least a decade because of increased global production.
The report is the last to come before OPEC's meeting in Vienna on December 4. The oil cartel is largely expected to keep production levels steady above 30 million barrels per day, despite ongoing concerns over ample global supplies.