Oil fell to its lowest price in more than two months on signs of surging U.S. supply and speculation that American sanctions against Iran won’t succeed in reducing exports to zero, The Houston Chronicle reports.
Futures in New York dropped as much as 1% after falling 1.3% on Wednesday. U.S. crude inventories rose for a sixth week, while Russia was said to raise oil output to a post-Soviet record. The supply surge comes just as concern eases around a halt of exports from Iran, with oil buyers India and South Korea said to agree with the U.S. on the outline of waivers.
Oil slid 11% last month, the most since July 2016, as an equity rout and trade tensions between the U.S. and China stoked concerns over economic growth. Still, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies are sending mixed signals on whether they’ll boost output to fill any shortfall from the return of sanctions on Iran next week, heightening uncertainty.
West Texas Intermediate for December delivery fell as much as 66 cents to $64.65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest since Aug. 16, and was at $64.85 as of 10:50 a.m. London time. The contract declined 3.4% in the past three sessions. Total volume traded Thursday was in line with the 100-day average.
