Brent crude is trading below $50 a barrel at fresh 2017 lows

Oil prices tumbled to their lowest level of the year amid growing fears that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) is not doing enough to rebalance the oil market while US stockpiles rise.

Brent crude prices fell to an intraday low of $49.69 a barrel while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices traded at a $46.73 a barrel this afternoon.

Yeterday, data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) revealed weekly crude stocks fell by 930,000 barrels to 527.8m, which was less than half of the 2.3m barrel decline forecasted.

Gasoline stocks, which have lately been driving prices, rose by far less than the 11.3m barrel gain analysts expected at just 191,000 barrels.

Opec and non-Opec producers including Russia agreed to cut output by 1.8m barrels per day (bpd) over the first six months of 2017 to cut the global supply glut, but high inventories in the US along with the country's rising shale production have undercut kept a ceiling on price rises.

Analysts are now expecting Opec to extend the deal for another six months when officials meet later this month.

"I do think as long as Opec maintains the cuts, the price will get some stability," Petromatrix analyst Olivier Jakob said.

Let's block ads! (Why?)