Investing.com – Crude futures settled lower on Thursday, amid growing investor skepticism in Opec and its allies’ ability to reduce the glut in supply, as both Opec and non-Opec output remained elevated.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for July delivery lost 27 cents to settle at $44.46 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent dipped 5 cents to trade at $46.95 a barrel.
Crude futures extended losses for a second straight day, as investors continued to fret about growing US production after recent data showed an unexpected surge in gasoline inventories, pointing to a period of potential weak demand.
The Energy Information Administration said Wednesday that gasoline inventories, one of the products that crude is refined into, unexpectedly rose by roughly 2m barrels against expectations for a decline of 457,000 barrels.
The bearish inventory report added to the current negative sentiment on oil, after the International Energy Agency said Wednesday that non-Opec output was set to increase over the near term.
"For total non-Opec production, we expect production to grow by 700,000 bpd this year, but our first outlook for 2018 makes sobering reading for those producers looking to restrain supply," the IEA said in its monthly oil market report.
Rising non-Opec output has dented Opec and its allies’ global pact to reduce oversupply in the market, which has pressured prices for nearly three years.
Investors, however, have started to question whether Opec would continue to remain compliant with its pledge to cut production by 1.2m barrels per day until March 2018, after the oil-cartel revealed an unexpected increase in output in May.
Opec said Tuesday, that output from the group rose by 336,000 barrels per day in May to 32.14m barrels per day.