Oil prices retreat again, Brent dips below US crude futures

Crude oil prices fell on Thursday, with both Brent futures dropping below $48 a barrel because of a global oversupply, following a volatile session the previous day when prices had rebounded sharply from near-six-year lows.

By 07:21 GMT, Brent was down over a dollar, or 2 per cent, at $47.56 a barrel, while US crude was trading at $47.61 a barrel, down 87 cents.

“A war for output market share means oil prices are skewed to the downside. Funds are unwinding a large positive investment premium, but further selling is possible,” ANZ said on Thursday.

Wednesday’s 4.5 per cent surge in Brent, the biggest percentage gain since June 2012, had come as traders covered themselves on expiring options.

However, market sentiment remains bearish due to a supply glut, with international Brent crude futures falling below their US WTI equivalents.

US crude has been cheaper than Brent because soaring North American shale oil production has pulled down prices while the rest of the world market remained more tightly supplied.

But with oil producer club OPEC deciding late last year to maintain its output despite slowing Asian and European economies in order to defend its market share, including against surging US competition, a glut has also appeared outside the United States, pulling Brent prices down to US levels.

US investment bank Jefferies International said the use of floating storage would, in the near term, absorb barrels but noted that “those same barrels will eventually be delivered and could moderate a future price recovery”.

Adding to the downward pressure on prices, Russian output has reached levels not since seen the end of the Soviet Union.

ANZ bank said that it saw a 60 per cent chance Brent would range between $40 and $60 a barrel in the first half of the year, a 30 per cent possibility of prices falling to $35-45 during that time and only a 10 per cent chance of prices going up to $60-80 a barrel.

Reuters