Oil tumbles on OPEC surplus worry; awaits United States inventory data

Crude futures had plunged Thursday to two-month lows as the weekly USA stockpiles report showed soaring oil inventories, fuelling a global supply glut.

Oil prices will tick upward but not enjoy a big rally over the next several years, reaching anywhere from $50 to $80 per barrel by 2020, according to a forecast. Republication or redistribution of content provided by EconoTimes is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of EconoTimes, except for personal and non-commercial use.

Oil prices were higher on Tuesday after the IEA (International Energy Agency) reported exceptional declines in investment.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday, snapping a four-day losing streak triggered by oversupply concerns.

"We are following the market day in and day out, month in and month out we see that 2016 is really producing a few positive results", Badri said in Abu Dhabi. The markets had expected supplies to build by about 1.3 million barrels, according to a survey compiled by Bloomberg.

"The market is being overwhelmed by rising supply", said Michael Corcelli, chief investment officer of hedge fund Alexander Alternative Capital LLC in Miami.

Most of the oil supply increases in recent years have come from high-cost production, Badri said, in a reference to supply sources such as US shale oil.

"Crude oil prices continue to drift lower", noted Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob.

The slowdown in China has pulled down the entire commodity sector, with products like crude, copper, liquefied natural gas (LNG), coal and iron ore all down between 20 and 30% this year, on a rebased basis valued at 100 points on January 1.

The oil market is also looking for any indicators from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) over its production policy. The EIA estimated refineries processed more than 15.9 million barrels per day, up 302,000 barrels per day from last week and 89.5 percent of total operating capacity. "As the next OPEC meeting on Dec 4 looms closer, speculation over what the cartel will do next will rise".