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Crude oil falls to 1-week low ahead of U.S. supply report, OPEC

Published 05/30/2013, 04:01 AM
Updated 05/30/2013, 04:01 AM

Investing.com - Crude oil futures traded at a one-week low on Thursday, as investors looked ahead to closely-watched weekly supply data on stockpiles of crude and refined products from the U.S. Energy Information Administration later in the day.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light sweet crude futures for delivery in July traded at USD93.05 a barrel during European morning trade, down 0.1% on the day.

New York-traded oil prices fell by as much as 0.4% earlier in the day to hit a session low of USD92.74 a barrel, the weakest level since May 23.

Oil traders looked ahead to data from the U.S. government on oil and fuel supplies later in the day to gauge the strength of demand from the world’s largest oil consumer.

The report was expected to show that U.S. crude oil stockpiles declined by 0.4 million barrels last week, while gasoline inventories were forecast to rise by a modest 0.1 million barrels.

The report comes out a day later than usual due to Monday’s Memorial Day holiday in the U.S.

After markets closed Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said that U.S. crude inventories rose by 4.4 million barrels last week, defying expectations for a drop of 1.1 million barrels.

Gasoline stocks surged 1.94 million barrels, compared to expectations for a 0.2 million barrel increase.

Oil traders also awaited data on weekly U.S. jobless claims later in the global day amid ongoing speculation over whether the Federal Reserve is moving closer to scaling back its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program.

The U.S. is the world’s biggest oil consuming country, responsible for almost 22% of global oil demand.

Market players also shifted their focus to a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna later this week.

OPEC is forecast to keep its supply target unchanged at 30 million a day on May 31.

Oil prices tumbled sharply on Wednesday after the International Monetary Fund cut its estimate for China's economic growth for this year and the next, fuelling concerns over a slowdown in demand from the world’s second largest oil consumer.

Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for June delivery shed 0.1% to trade at USD102.36 a barrel, with the spread between the Brent and crude contracts standing at USD9.31 a barrel.

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