Nymex Overview: Oil Unchanged on EIA Data as Market Focuses on OPEC+ Meeting — OPIS

Crude oil contracts were down modestly at midday Thursday, after the latest government data showed U.S. oil stocks rose in the week ended Friday.

The Nymex October West Texas Intermediate contract was off by 40cts at $63.50/bbl and the November WTI was down 50cts to $63.05/bbl at about 12:15 p.m. ET.

The November ICE Brent crude contract was trading 55cts lower at $67.05/bbl and December Brent was off by 60cts at about $66.60/bbl.

Both oil benchmarks are on track to settle lower for a second-straight session as the market awaits the outcome of Sunday's meeting between OPEC and allied producers.

The Energy Information Administration at noon estimated domestic commercial crude oil stocks rose by 2.4 million bbl in the week ended Friday. The agency also reported gasoline holdings fell last week by 3.8 million bbl, while distillate inventories rose by 1.7 million bbl.

The Nymex October RBOB contract was up by just 0.2ct at $2.014/gal, and the November RBOB contract was down by 0.4ct at $1.9475/gal. The October ULSD contract was off by 3.8cts at $2.323/gal, and November ULSD was 3.75cts lower at $2.311/gal.

Oil market sentiment remained bearish after Reuters, citing unnamed sources, reported that OPEC+ will consider unwinding a second layer of output cuts of about 1.65 million b/d as member countries seek to recover market share.

Most analysts, however, expect OPEC+ will make no changes to its October production target. In U.S. cash refined product markets, Pacific Northwest sub-octane gasoline was trading 3-4cts higher and Los Angeles CARBOB gasoline was up by 2-3cts. Most other cash products tracked Nymex futures movements.

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

• Reporting by Frank Tang, ftang@opisnet.com; Editing by Jeff Barber, jbarber@opisnet.com