Crude-oil futures gave up on an attempt to build on a prior-session rebound on Thursday, driven by support from a recent drop in U.S. oil stockpiles.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in January traded at $66.34 U.S> a barrel, down $1.04, or 1.53% in the Globex electronic session. January Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $0.56, or 0.73%, to $69.37 U.S. a barrel.
U.S. crude inventories for the week ended Nov. 28 fell by a surprise 3.7 million barrels, the U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed, while analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected stocks to rise by 600,000 barrels. That gave crude prices a bump on Wednesday.
Societe Generale said in a report the oil industry is still adjusting to a world where the price itself balances supply, not Saudi Arabia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Saudi Arabia now believes oil prices could stabilize at around $60 U.S. a barrel, indicating it won’t push for supply cuts in the near-term, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. Exxon’s CEO on Wednesday said the company could weather oil at $40 U.S. a barrel.
Saudi Arabia is expected to announce its official selling prices for January on Thursday or Friday, said analysts at Commerzbank, citing a Bloomberg survey. Most experts expect the largest OPEC producer to increase its discounts for Asian consumers as compared to international benchmark prices.
Investors are watching out for other major oil producers to make supply or investment cuts.
