Investing.com – Crude futures settled at a seven-month low on Tuesday, as data expected to show a draw in U.S. crude stockpiles for the second-straight week failed to offset concerns about an uptick in global production.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for August delivery fell 2.2% to settle at $43.23 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent lost 1.90% to trade at $46.01 a barrel.
Sentiment on oil remained negative for the second-consecutive session, as investors continued to doubt Opec and its allies’ efforts to rebalance supply and demand in the market in the wake of rising global output.
Despite Opec’s 108% compliance in May with the deal to cut production, rising output from both Nigeria and Libya have added to the glut in supply.
Libya is currently producing 902,000 barrels a day, an official at the state National Oil Corp. said Tuesday. It’s the North African country’s highest output in four years.
Meanwhile, exports of Nigeria's benchmark Bonny Light crude oil are set to reach 226,000 bpd in August, up from 164,000 bpd in July, loading programs show.
Both Nigeria and Libya are exempt from making production cuts.
In May, Opec and non-Opec members agreed to extend production cuts for a period of nine months until March, but stuck to production cuts of 1.8 million bpd agreed in November last year.
Expectations that the Energy Information Administration’s weekly inventory report released on Wednesday would reveal U.S. crude stockpiles fell by 2.1 million failed to lift sentiment, as investors remained wary of an unexpected glut in gasoline stockpiles amid weak demand.
Last week, the EIA said gasoline inventories, one of the products that crude is refined into, swelled by roughly 2m barrels against expectations for a decline of 457,000 barrels.