By Erwin Seba
HOUSTON (Reuters) -Crude futures fell on Wednesday because of pessimism about demand in the coming months as crude producers offered mixed signals about supply increases.
Brent crude futures were down 80 cents, or 1.13%, to $72.92 at 12:49.m. CDT (1749 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 92 cents, or 1.31%, at $69.41.
Both benchmarks had earlier lost $1 and then bounced back to gain $1 from Tuesday’s closes, following news OPEC+ was discussing delaying a possible output increase because Libyan production is expected to rise.
A broader sell-off had seen prices for Brent crude futures tumble as much as 11%, or about $9, in a little over a week, hitting a low of $72.63 on Wednesday.
Lackluster data from the U.S. and China had strengthened persistent expectations of a weaker global economy and oil demand, helping set off a broader decline in world markets.
“It’s definitely worries about a slowdown in manufacturing,” said Phil Flynn, senior analyst at Price Futures Group. “That’s the only negative we’re seeing.”
Meanwhile, traders believed there could be an end in sight to a dispute halting Libyan oil exports, which would bring more crude supply back online.
“This sell off moved the attention to what OPEC+’s response would be, which last week looked set to start the planned output hikes in October,” wrote Alex Hodes, analyst at StoneX. “The group is now concerned about pricing and sources say that a delay to the hikes is now being discussed.”
Recent data releases fueled wider concerns around weaker than expected demand from China, the world’s biggest crude importer, and U.S. consumption taking a hit.
Chinese data on Saturday showed manufacturing activity sank to a six-month low in August, when growth in new home prices slowed.
On Tuesday in the U.S., the Institute for Supply Management data showed manufacturing remained subdued.
Weekly U.S. inventory data has been delayed by Monday’s Labor Day holiday. The report from the American Petroleum Institute is due at 4:30 p.m. EDT (2030 GMT) on Wednesday and data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration will be published at 11:00 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) on Thursday.
U.S. crude oil and gasoline stockpiles were expected to have fallen last week, a preliminary Reuters poll showed. [EIA/S][API/S]
While traders were pessimistic on demand fears, changes in supply could easily change sentiments, Flynn said.
“We could flip on a dime,” he said. “It could very easily turn positive. We could see a pretty decent crude draw later today.”
(Reporting by Erwin Seba, Additional reporting by Paul Carsten, Ahmad Ghaddar in London, Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo and Jeslyn Lerh in Singapore; Editing by Louise Heavens, Mark Potter and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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