Oil fell 1 percent on Wednesday on growing doubts that OPEC would cut production enough to drain a global glut, although prices bounced off session lows, with Brent returning above $50 a barrel after the US government reported a surprise drawdown in crude inventories.
US crude stockpiles fell 553,000 barrels last week, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said, a result contrary to the 1.7 million-barrel build that analysts polled by Reuters had forecast.
Crude inventories in the world’s largest oil producer have fallen unexpectedly in seven of the past eight weeks, bucking the trend usually seen during autumn when stockpiles rise as refineries go into maintenance. A preliminary report on Tuesday from the American Petroleum Institute, a trade group, had suggested a build of 4.8 million barrels for the Oct. 21 week.
Oil prices pared losses after the EIA data, with US crude briefly trading in positive territory. But the rebound was limited by doubts about whether OPEC, which meets Nov. 30 in Vienna, will succeed in reducing a global crude glut.
Brent crude was down 75 cents, or 1.5 percent, at $50.04 a barrel by 1633 GMT. It fell as low as $49.65, its lowest since Sept. 30.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slid 60 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $49.36. Its session low was $48.87, a trough since Oct. 4.

Source: Arab News