Oil falls near US$47 a barrel as US crude rig count unchanged

[TOKYO] Oil fell near US$47 a barrel as the number of US rigs drilling for oil remained unchanged and Royal Dutch Shell Plc said production isn't affected by storm preparations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Futures in New York dropped as much as 1.2 per cent after advancing 1.9 per cent over the previous two sessions on speculation informal Opec talks next month could result in some kind of output freeze.

A tropical depression near Florida, forecast to become a storm on Monday, is expected to move into the Gulf of Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center.

West Texas Intermediate for October delivery fell as much as 59 US cents to US$47.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and traded at US$47.09 a barrel at 8 am Tokyo time.

The contract rose 31 US cents to settle at US$47.64 on Friday. Total volume traded was 44 per cent below the 100-day average.

Brent for October settlement declined 47 US cents, or 0.9 per cent, to US$49.45 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.

The contract increased 25 US cents to US$49.92 on Friday. The global benchmark crude traded at a US$2.36 premium to WTI.

BLOOMBERG