WTI oil fell 1.5% and Brent 1.6% last night the lowest since Oct...

WTI oil fell 1.5% and Brent 1.6% last night the lowest since Oct 4th as Mkt lacks belief OPEC will cut prod. From Marketwatch:

Oil prices settled at their lowest level in about three weeks on Wednesday, pressured by growing doubts over the success of OPEC’s plan to curb production. The pessimism outweighed earlier support U.S. government data showing a surprise weekly drawdown in crude stockpiles.

“Oil prices shrugged off the minor, yet unexpected, draw to [U.S. crude] stocks,” as the market continued to “come to terms with the growing unlikelihood” of an agreement by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut production a month from now, said Troy Vincent, an oil analyst at ClipperData. OPEC members are set to hold a formal meeting Nov. 30.

December West Texas Intermediate crude fell by 78 cents, or 1.6%, to settle at $49.18 a barrel. That marked the lowest finish since Oct. 4, according to FactSet data. Still, prices had been trading even lower, at $48.90, shortly before the supply report.

December Brent crude LCOZ6, -1.67% on London’s ICE Futures exchange fell 81 cents, or 1.6%, to $49.98 a barrel, settling under $50 for the first time this month.

Natural gas NGX16, -1.01% meanwhile, extended its losses to a sixth straight session ahead of Thursday’s EIA data on supplies of the fuel. The November contract fell 4.3 cents, or 1.6%, to $2.731 per million British thermal units.

Overall, oil prices have been under pressure as disputes within OPEC appear to be escalating over the suggested pact to cap the group’s daily production to between 32.5 to 33 million barrels a day. In September, the group’s production reached 33.4 million barrels a day.
“Rhetoric continues to ring out against the proposed production cut from OPEC,” said John Macaluso, an analyst at Tyche Capital Advisors. “Iraq has joined Iran, Nigeria and Libya opposing a production cut.” Iraq, the second largest OPEC producer, has said it needs the oil income to fund its continuing war against Islamic State.

“The only countries that can afford to cut production are Saudi Arabia and Russia but they would have the losing end of the deal if they are the only ones to cut,” said Jonathan Chan, a Phillip Futures energy analyst.

Russia’s unclear stance is also fueling uncertainty. It had previously signaled its willingness to join an OPEC cut, but recent comments by its oil officials show the country is likely pivoting away.
Russia’s OPEC envoy Vladimir Voronkov was quoted by a Russian media as saying that output cuts aren’t “an option for us.” Earlier this week, the head of Russia’s leading oil producer Rosneft also said the country still has spare capacity to raise production, if demand requires.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/cr...-rise-sharply-opec-deal-fears-rise-2016-10-26