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Oil prices fell for a sixth day on Wednesday, marking their longest string of losses in a year, as worsening global oversupply offset the potential lift from a weaker dollar and an expected drop in US crude stocks. A Reuters survey on Tuesday showed, members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries produced around three million barrels per day (bpd) of oil more than daily demand in the second quarter, compared with around 2 million bpd in the first quarter. The Federal Reserve meets later in the day, but market expectations of a September rise in interest rates are fading, leaving the dollar down against a basket of currencies.
“If you look at (inventories) there's been a pretty big build and also a build in gasoline (stockpiles) that is going to add a bit of pressure today,” said Olivier Jakob, an oil analyst at Petromatrix in Zug, Switzerland. Front-month Brent futures were last at $53.08 a barrel, down 22 cents, by 1045 GMT, on course for their sixth straight daily decline, the longest such run since last July.
Brent hit a session trough of $52.28 on Tuesday, its lowest since February 2 after a meltdown in Chinese equities raised concern over the health of the world's top commodity consumer. US crude for September delivery last traded at $47.75 a barrel, down 23 cents on the day. Oil prices recovered from multi-month lows on Tuesday after data from industry group the American Petroleum Institute showed US commercial crude stocks fell 1.9 million barrels last week against analysts' expectations for a draw of 184,000.
