Oil Dropping After OPEC Report and US Inventories

Crude oil prices fell Thursday, August 13, after OPEC said it expects demand for its oil to decline more than expected, although US government data showed a decline in inventories, indicating that demand is returning despite the Coronavirus pandemic.

Brent crude fell eight cents to $ 45.35 a barrel by 07:26 GMT, after it had gained about 2% in the previous session. US West Texas Intermediate crude fell four cents to $ 42.62 a barrel, after gaining 2.6% on Wednesday.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in a monthly report that global oil demand will fall by 9.06 million barrels per day this year, which is more than a decrease of 8.95 million barrels per day that the organization expected a month ago.

The US demand for fuel rose to 19.37 million barrels per day last week, the highest since March, according to US Energy Information Administration data, while crude production fell to 10.7 million barrels per day from 11 million barrels per day.

Crude stocks fell by 4.5 million barrels per day, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a decrease of 2.9 million barrels.

US crude production is expected to drop 990,000 barrels per day this year to 11.26 million barrels per day, which is more than the 600,000 barrels per day drop that the administration expected last month, which indicates that global oil demand remains in doubt.