Oil eases after surge as OPEC production inches higher

Hong Kong - Oil edged lower for a second day after a price surge last month as OPEC output climbed marginally led by gains from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Futures lost 0.3% in New York after dropping 2.1% on Monday. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries pumped 32.83 million barrels a day in September, up 120 000 barrels a day from August, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Libyan production is set to recover from a five-month low as the nation’s biggest field restarts following a brief halt.

Oil in September capped the biggest monthly advance since April 2016 after entering a bull market on forecasts for rising demand and as Turkey said it may halt Kurdish exports through its territory.

US crude inventories probably extended declines last week, falling by a projected 500,000 barrels, according to a Bloomberg survey before government report on Wednesday.

“The market appears to be on hold at the moment,” said David Lennox, an analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney. “Higher prices will probably lead to an upward trend in US output and keep a lid on oil. As long as OPEC continues to comply with its cuts, that will provide some support to the price.”

West Texas Intermediate for November delivery was at $50.43 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 15 cents, at 08:45. Total volume traded was about 67% below the 100-day average. Prices slid $1.09 to $50.58 on Monday after advancing 9.4% last month.

Brent for December settlement fell 25 cents to $55.87 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. Prices lost $1.42 to $56.12 on Monday. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $5.13 to December WTI.

Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s biggest producer, boosted production by 60 000 barrels a day to 10.06 million barrels, while Gulf neighbour Kuwait lifted output by 50 000 barrels to 2.76 million barrels a day, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts, oil companies and ship-tracking data.

Oil-market news:

• Libyan output is expected to expand to 1 million barrels a day from 800 000 within two to three days as the Sharara field restarts Tuesday, National Oil.

• Chairperson  Mustafa Sanalla said Monday in a televised interview on Libya TV.

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