Oil rebounds as industry data signals US stockpiles declined

[SYDNEY] Oil resumed its advance as US industry data signaled crude inventories declined, trimming a supply glut.

Futures rose as much as 1.3 per cent in New York after slipping 0.3 per cent Tuesday. The American Petroleum Institute was said to report US supplies fell by 7.6 million barrels last week.

That contrasts with a 1.5 million-barrel gain forecast in a Bloomberg survey before government data Wednesday. Hurricane Matthew, heading for the US and forecast to hug Florida's Atlantic coast Thursday and Friday, threatens to disrupt East Coast fuel shipments.

Oil has gained about 10 per cent since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed last week to trim supply for the first time in eight years.

Quotas will be decided at the group's official meeting in Vienna on Nov 30. Opec crude production rose to a record in September, according to a Bloomberg survey.

West Texas Intermediate for November delivery rose as much as 61 US cents to US$49.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at US$49.17 at 9:40am in Sydney. The contract lost 12 cents to US$48.69 a barrel on Tuesday.

Brent for December settlement declined 2 US cents to US$50.87 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange on Tuesday. The global benchmark closed at a US$1.57 premium to WTI for December delivery.

BLOOMBERG