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Oil prices on Wednesday settled at their lowest since 2011, sinking as a drop in OPEC production last month nearly matched output increases from countries outside the cartel. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in December fell 76 cents, or 1%, to finish at $77.18 a barrel. That’s oil lowest settlement since Oct. 4, 2011. New York-traded oil futures are down 22% so far this year. December Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell $1.29, or 1.6%, to end at $80.38 a barrel. That was Brent’s lowest settlement since Sept. 28, 2010. In its monthly oil market report released Wednesday, OPEC said its production in October dropped by 230,000 barrels of oil a day to 30.25 million barrels a day, with production decreases from Saudi Arabia, Angola, and Nigeria. Libyan production rose. Crude output from countries that do not belong to OPEC, however, rose by 250,000 barrels of oil a day, OPEC said in the report. The share of OPEC crude-oil production in the global output decreased to 32.7%, compared with 33% in September. OPEC has signaled it would not move to cut production when it meets Nov. 27 in Vienna. Saudi Arabia and other top producing OPEC members have instead cut the price of their oil, a move viewed as a way to preserve market share.
The report had a bright spot, said in a note Tim Evans, an energy analyst with Citi Futures. “OPEC officials may not be talking about cutting their production quota or actual output, but the data shows that output has been trimmed as an offset to the recovery in Libyan oil production or in reaction to falling prices,” he said. In the report, OPEC kept its estimate for global oil demand growth unchanged at 1.05 million barrels a day, and its 2015 forecast also in line with the previous month’s report at 1.19 million barrels a day. Crude futures prices have lost about 30% since a peak in June amid concerns about the supply glut and slackening global demand.
Also on Wednesday, the International Energy Agency released its annual outlook report, saying that global energy demand will increase by 37% over the next 20 years, but turmoil in many key producing regions and policy challenges mean that energy supply may not be adequate. The U.S. Energy Information Administration is slated to report its weekly supply numbers on Thursday, a day later than usual due to Veterans Day holiday. Analysts polled by Platts expect the EIA to report a decline in crude supplies of 500,000 barrels on the week.
The American Petroleum Institute said late Wednesday U.S. crude supplies dropped by 1.5 million barrels in week ended Nov. 7, according to reports. The trade group’s weekly supplies data came a day later than usual due to the holiday.
Elsewhere in energy trading, natural gas for December delivery retreated 6 cents, or 1.5%, to settle at $4.1850 per million British thermal units. Natural gas has been down for three straight sessions. Analysts at Morgan Stanley said Wednesday the arrival of cold weather is unlikely to boost futures prices as natural-gas supplies are plentiful, infrastructure improved, and weather forecasters expect warmer weather by the end of November.