By Ethan Lou
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices dipped on Thursday, with losses limited as an attack on a Nigerian pipeline cut the country's output even as investors remained skeptical about OPEC's planned production limit and surprised at a big build in U.S. crude inventories.
Traders said energy monitoring service Genscape reported a weekly build of 1.2 million barrels at the U.S. delivery base in Cushing, Oklahoma.
That kept a lid on oil prices after Wednesday's dive to a five-week low. U.S. government data released Wednesday showed stockpiles of oil in the United States surged a record 14 million barrels last week.
Brent crude was down 20 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $46.66 a barrel by 11:05 a.m. EDT (15:05 GMT).
U.S. crude was down 31 cents, or 0.7 percent, at $45.02 per barrel.
Prices were also pressured as U.S. equities trimmed gains after government data showed U.S. jobless claims rose last week.
Oil ministers from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meets on Nov. 30 in Vienna to agree a production cut after two years of global oversupply and low prices that have hurt member states' budgets.
OPEC has not made clear how much each individual member should cut, and several have been resistant. Market watchers have grown more skeptical that a concrete deal can be reached or enforced, putting a lid on any price rally.
"Since things have clearly bogged down into negotiations about old-fashioned quotas - precisely what OPEC had wisely shied away from for more than a decade - ministers now face a very tall mountain," Credit Suisse analysts said in a note.
News of an attack on a Nigerian pipeline, which sources say cut the country's output by at least 200,000 barrels, lent some support to crude prices. Nigeria, Africa's largest crude producer, has been hamstrung in months by rebel activity on pipelines and other oil facilities.
Oil prices have been falling for four days, and futures have not recovered to levels reached in October after the preliminary agreement by OPEC to cap production. U.S. crude peaked near $52 a barrel before slipping in the last two weeks.
OPEC approved a document last week outlining its long-term strategy, a sign its frequently dissenting members are coming to an agreement on managing production.
(Additional reporting by Sabina Zawadzki in LONDON and Mark Tay in SINGAPORE; Editing by David Gregorio)
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