Investing.com - West Texas Intermediate oil futures struggled near two-month lows on Thursday, after data showed that oil supplies in the U.S. rose more than expected last week, underlining concerns over weak demand.
Crude oil for delivery in December on the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped 87 cents, or 2.03%, to trade at $42.06 a barrel during U.S. morning hours. Prices were at around $42.27 prior to the release of the inventory data. It earlier fell to $41.70, the lowest since August 27.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories rose by 4.2 million barrels in the week ended November 6.
Market analysts' expected a crude-stock rise of 1.0 million barrels, while the American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported an increase of 6.3 million barrels.
Supplies at Cushing, Oklahoma, the key delivery point for Nymex crude, increased by 2.3 million barrels last week, following a decline of 212,000 barrels in the preceding week.
Total U.S. crude oil inventories stood at 487.0 million barrels as of last week, remaining near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years.
The report also showed that gasoline inventories decreased by 2.1 million barrels, compared to expectations for a decline of 0.9 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles rose by 0.4 million barrels.
The data came out one day later than usual due to Wednesday's Veterans Day's holiday in the U.S.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for January delivery hit an intraday low of $45.56 a barrel, a level not seen since August 27, before trading at $45.88, down 73 cents, or 1.57%.
Oil prices have been on the decline in recent months as ongoing worries over the health of the global economy fueled concerns that a global supply glut may stick around for longer than anticipated.
Global oil production is outpacing demand following a boom in U.S. shale oil production and after a decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries last year not to cut production.
In its October monthly report released Thursday, OPEC largely maintained its forecasts for oil demand growth and supply for this year and next. The oil cartel said surplus oil inventories are at the highest level in at least a decade because of increased global production.
The report is the last to come before OPEC's meeting in Vienna on December 4. The oil cartel is largely expected to keep production levels steady above 30 million barrels per day, despite ongoing concerns over ample global supplies.