Investing.com - Crude futures plunged on Wednesday after data revealed that U.S. stockpiles took an unexpected rise last week, while an OPEC decision to trim its demand forecasts battered the commodity as well.
In the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for delivery in January traded down 4.89% at $60.70 a barrel during U.S. trading, up from a session low of $60.49 a barrel and off a high of $63.71 a barrel.
The January contract settled up 1.22% at $63.82 a barrel on Tuesday.
Support for the commodity was seen at $59.15 a barrel, the low from July 14, 2009, and resistance at $73.56 a barrel, the high from Nov. 28.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that U.S. crude oil inventories increased by 1.5 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 5, confounding expectations for a decline of 2.5 million barrels.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 380.8 million barrels as of last week.
The report also showed that total motor gasoline inventories increased by 8.2 million barrels, above expectations for a gain of 2.6 million, while distillate stockpiles rose by 5.6 million barrels.
Elsewhere, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries' monthly report released earlier showed that its collective crude output fell by 390,100 barrels a day in November to a total of 30.05 million barrels.
According to the agency, the decline was led by Libya, which cut production by approximately 248,300 barrels per day to 638,000.
Saudi Arabia's output fell by 60,100 barrels a day to 9.59 million barrels a day, while production in Kuwait dropped by 59,400 barrels a day to 2.69 million barrels a day
OPEC also forecast that demand for the group's oil will drop to 28.9 million barrels a day next year, down from 29.4 million barrels a day in 2014, which exacerbated Wednesday's losses.
London-traded Brent prices have fallen nearly 44% since June, when it climbed near $116, while WTI futures are down almost 43% from a recent peak of $107.50 in June.
OPEC decided to maintain its output target at 30 million barrels a day last month, disappointing hopes the oil cartel would lower production to support the market, as a surplus develops amid the shale boom in the U.S., which is pumping at the fastest pace in more than 30 years.
Iraq’s state-run oil company lowered official selling prices for its crude in January, following a similar move from Saudi Arabia, indicating that OPEC exporters are stepping up a battle for market share with cheaper U.S. shale oil.
Separately, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil futures for January delivery were down 4.53% at US$63.82 a barrel, while the spread between Brent and U.S. crude contracts stood at $3.12.