Yahoo Finance Oil market losses deepen
World oil prices barrelled even lower Thursday with sentiment weighed down by a sharp rise in US crude stockpiles, dealers said.
At 1700 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery shed $1.24 to $43.47 per barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for November delivery lost $1.19 to $45.70 a barrel compared with Wednesday's close.
"There has been a lot of momentum selling from yesterday, which I would now expect to ease as the dollar is coming under a bit of pressure and oil prices are nearing key technical levels," Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada told AFP.
"Ahead of the OPEC meeting (due later this month)... I am expecting to see a volatile range-bound trading environment," he added.
The market had already plunged Wednesday after the US Department of Energy (DoE) said commercial inventories in the world's top consumer last week rose to 525.9 million barrels -- and were now 16 percent higher than the same period last year.
The figures, which came despite a dip in production, poured fresh fuel on fears about a global supply glut that has dogged the crude market for several years.
Output was down slightly at 8.49 million barrels per day, a drop of 60,000 barrels per day on last week.
However, imports rose by 275,000 barrels per day to 8.92 million barrels.
"US crude stockpiles have risen while OPEC heavyweights such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq continue to pump incessantly into a market that is already heavily saturated," said analyst Lukman Otunuga at trading firm FXTM.
"Persistent concerns over the excessive oversupply of oil in the global markets (have) haunted investor attraction towards the commodity.
"It is becoming increasingly clear that investors have digested the oversupply reality with the fading optimism over OPEC securing a freeze deal in September's informal meeting enticing sellers to attack further."
Prices had soared last month as OPEC and Russia agreed to hold talks to address the supply crisis.
But those gains have been slowly wiped away by a strong dollar -- making oil more expensive for holders of other units -- and uncertainty over OPEC member and key producer Iran's participation in the talks.
Analysts remain doubtful oil producers will agree to any limits at the meeting in Algeria this month.
"WTI crude remains fundamentally bearish with further declines expected as the combination of supply fears and soft demand encourages bears to install rounds of selling," added Otunuga.
Traders are meanwhile awaiting Friday's key US jobs data, which could spur the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates and in turn send the dollar higher, denting oil demand further.
"The risk is... to see a strong non-farm payroll (NFP) number on Friday, which will be dollar positive," noted Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob.
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