Investing.com - Crude oil prices swayed in Asia on Wednesday as industry data showed a continued demand trend for crude and refined product stockpiles and an OPEC meeting later in the day looms with chances for a freeze on production seen slim.
Crude oil for November delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange was up 0.04% to $44.69 a barrel. On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for December delivery eased 0.30% to $46.68 a barrel.
The American Petroleum Institute said crude inventory estimates showed a drop of 750,000 barrels last week, coming on th heels of a substantial 7.5 million barrel draw previously. Gasoline stocks dropped 3.7 million barrels, the fourth successive week of draws above 2.0 million, while distillates fell by 300,000 barrels. Inventories at Cushing eased by 800,000 barrels.
The figures come ahead of more closely-watched data from the U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday.
Overnight, oil prices plunged nearly 3% during North American hours on Tuesday, extending overnight losses, after both Saudi Arabia and Iran played down expectations for a deal to freeze or cut oil production at the closely watched informal OPEC meeting on Wednesday.
Oil ministers from both countries said on Tuesday that talks among OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers in Algiers are "consultative," casting doubt on the chances of any policy decision during the meeting.
On Monday, London-traded Brent futures surged $1.45, or 3.12%, amid hopes global oil producers will make progress on a deal to limit production at an informal meeting tentatively scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
OPEC members, led by Saudi Arabia and other big Middle East crude exporters, such as Iran and Iraq, will meet non-OPEC producer Russia at the International Energy Forum in Algeria on Wednesday at 14:00GMT (10:00AM ET).
According to market experts, chances that the meeting would yield any action to reduce the global glut appeared minimal. Instead, most believe that oil producers will continue to monitor the market and possibly postpone freeze talks to the official OPEC meeting in Vienna on November 30.
An attempt to jointly freeze production levels earlier this year failed after Saudi Arabia backed out over Iran's refusal to take part of the initiative, underscoring the difficulty for political rivals to forge consensus.