Brent, WTI oil futures trade near 4-year lows ahead of OPEC meeting

Investing.com - Brent and West Texas Intermediate oil prices traded near four-year lows on Wednesday, amid growing speculation the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will not cut output to support the market when it meets on Thursday.

On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for January delivery shed 12 cents, or 0.15%, to trade at $78.21 a barrel during European morning hours.

A day earlier, Brent lost $1.35, or 1.69% to settle at $78.33 a barrel. Brent futures fell to a four-year low of $76.76 a barrel on November 14.

Elsewhere, on the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for delivery in January dipped 12 cents, or 0.16%, to trade at $73.97 a barrel.

New-York traded oil futures declined $1.69, or 2.23%, on Tuesday to end at $74.09 a barrel. Nymex oil hit $73.25 a barrel on November 14, the lowest level since September 2010.

Oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday after a meeting between officials from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela and Mexico in Vienna ended without an agreement to curb output.

The latest breakdown in talks added to speculation that OPEC will not lower production when it meets in Vienna on Thursday.

Oil ministers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Venezuela and Ecuador have asked for action to prevent further price declines, while Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have resisted calls to lower production.

Concerns over weakening global demand combined with indications that OPEC producers will not cut output have weighed on prices in recent months.

London-traded Brent prices have fallen nearly 33% since June, when it climbed near $116, while WTI futures are down almost 32% from a recent peak of $107.50 in June.

Some market experts believe prices could drop an additional 20% to $60 per barrel if OPEC does not agree to cut production significantly.

Oil traders also awaited the release of weekly supply data out of the U.S. later in the session to gauge the strength of oil demand from the world’s largest consumer.

Wednesday’s government report was expected to show that U.S. crude oil stockpiles rose by 0.5 million barrels last week, while gasoline stockpiles were forecast to increase by 1.8 million barrels.

After markets closed Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said that U.S. crude inventories rose by 2.8 million barrels in the week ended November 21.

The report also showed that gasoline stockpiles rose by 43,000 barrels, while distillate stocks decreased by 1.3 million barrels.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a flurry of data ahead of Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday, including reports on durable goods orders, unemployment claims, personal income and spending, as well as reports on new and pending home sales and revised data on consumer sentiment.

Data on Tuesday showed that the U.S. economy posted growth of 3.9% in the three months to September, far higher than the initial estimate of 3.5%. Economists had forecast a small downward revision to 3.3%.

A separate report showed that consumer confidence index fell to a five month low in November, one month after touching its highest level in seven years, as optimism over the short term outlook waned.