Investing.com - Oil prices fell sharply during European hours on Wednesday, touching a two-week low as market players awaited fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its weekly report on oil supplies at 10:30AM ET (14:30GMT) amid expectations for an increase of 921,000 barrels.
Gasoline inventories are expected to decline by 1.157 million barrels while stocks of distillates, which include heating oil and diesel, are forecast to drop by 157,000 barrels, according to analysts.
After markets closed Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute said that U.S. oil inventories increased by 942,000 barrels in the week ended August 26.
It also showed a drop of 1.65 million barrels in gasoline stocks, while distillates showed a rise of 3.0 million barrels on the week.
Crude oil for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange slumped to a session low of $45.75 a barrel, a level not seen since August 15. It was last at $46.16 by 4:04AM ET (08:04GMT), down 19 cents, or 0.41%.
A day earlier, New York-traded oil futures slumped 63 cents, or 1.34%, as a broadly stronger U.S. dollar and oversupply concerns weighed on sentiment.
Meanwhile, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for November delivery dipped 32 cents, or 0.66%, to trade at $48.41 a barrel after hitting a daily low of $48.38, the weakest since August 16.
On Tuesday, London-traded Brent lost 72 cents, or 1.46% amid fading hopes of a production freeze and concerns about additional output from the Middle East and Africa weighed on sentiment.
Chances that the upcoming meeting among major oil producers in late September would yield any action to reduce the global glut appeared minimal after Saudi Arabia's energy minister said last week that he does not believe any "significant intervention" in the oil market is necessary.
His reported comments come ahead of an informal meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in Algeria late next month, during which major oil producers are expected to discuss a potential output freeze.
However, analysts and traders remain skeptical the meeting would result in a coherent effort to reduce the global glut.
Crude prices soared almost $10 a barrel, or nearly 25%, in the first three weeks of August, as the prospect of an output freeze by major producers at an informal OPEC meeting in Algeria next month sparked a massive rally.
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.