US crude ends at 6-year low on China devaluation, Opec data

[NEW YORK] US crude settled at a more than six-year low on Tuesday after China's currency devaluation raised questions about oil demand in the No. 2 consumer and a new Opec estimate showed non-member producers are likely to keep output high despite low prices.

A BP refinery outage in Whiting, Indiana, that could last at least a month, idling some 240,000 barrels per day of crude distillation, also weighed on oil prices, traders said.

US crude fell US$1.88, or more than 4 per cent, toUS$43.08 a barrel, its lowest settlement since March 2009, and about US$1 above the 2015 contract low on March 18.

Brent fell US$1.23, or 2.4 per cent, to US$49.18 a barrel, paring more than half of its gains in a rally on Monday.

The market continued to weaken in post-settlement trade after the American Petroleum Institute (API), an industry group, reported a smaller-than-expected drawdown in US crude inventories last week. "It's time to sell any and all rallies," said Tariq Zahir, managing member at Tyche Capital Advisors in Laurel Hollow in New York, who bets on crude hitting US$30 a barrel or lower.

China devalued its yuan currency by nearly 2 per cent after a run of poor economic data, guiding the currency to a near three-year low.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries projected that crude supplies from countries outside the group will rise by 90,000 bpd this year, a sign that crude's price collapse was taking longer than expected to hit US shale drillers and other competing sources.

A global oil oversupply since last summer, led by stubbornly strong US shale crude output and record production by Middle East producers, has driven prices down from June 2014 highs above US$100 a barrel.

This year so far, US crude has lost almost 20 per cent, extending its 46 per cent drop in 2014. Brent has fallen 15 per cent, adding to last year's 48 per cent tumble.

Weekly declines in US crude inventories over the past two weeks have not helped. The API reported on Tuesday that US crude stockpiles fell by 847,000 barrels last week. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected a larger drawdown of 1.8 million barrels.

Official data on stockpiles are due on Wednesday at 10:30 am (1430 GMT).

REUTERS