Crude oil resumes slide as oversupply concerns subdue India news

[Data analyzing in commodities energy market: the charts and quotes on display. US WTI crude oil price analysis. Stunning price drop for the last 20 years.]
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Oil futures extended losses Thursday, giving up early gains made after President Trump said India will in time stop buying oil from Russia, as market concerns about oversupply remain a burden on prices.

Trump said Wednesday that Prime Minister Modi had pledged that India eventually will stop buying from Russia - India's top oil supplier - but a statement from India's foreign ministry made no reference to Trump's comments, saying the country's policy remains one of broad-based energy sourcing and diversification, and that it is discussing deeper energy cooperation with the U.S.

The U.S. and India have held productive trade talks, and Indian refiners already have reduced Russian oil imports by 50%, a White House official told Reuters.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4504316-crude-inventory-rises-by-35m-barrels-for-week-ended-oct-10-eia] domestic crude inventories rose by 3.5 million barrels to 423.8 million barrels last week, up for the third straight week and contrary to a Wall Street Journal survey that forecast a 1.1 million barrel draw in crude stocks, with refineries running at 85.7% of capacity, down from 92.4% the previous week, due to the start of fall turnarounds.

However, gasoline inventories dropped by 267,000 barrels to 218.8 million barrels last week, and distillate fuel stocks fell by 4.5 million barrels to 117 million barrels.

"A modestly bearish report, with a large crude build being offset by a large distillate draw, but with implied oil demand considerably weaker than last week," UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said in a note.

Also, President Trump said he will meet with Russia's President Putin in Budapest to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, raising the possibility that Russian crude may soon flow freely.

Russian exports of refined fuels have fallen to their lowest since the early days of the war, evidence of the strain on the country’s refineries targeted by Ukrainian drone attacks.

Energy traders also are concerned that rising trade disputes between the U.S. and China could weaken demand for petroleum products if tensions stay elevated.

Earlier this week [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4504110-oil-slides-to-five-month-low-as-unusually-bearish-iea-report-forecasts-bigger-surplus], the International Energy Agency raised its forecast for a record surplus next year to 4 million bbl/day, as OPEC+ ramps up production.

Front-month Nymex crude (CL1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CL1:COM]) for November delivery closed -1.4% to $57.46/bbl and front-month Brent crude (CO1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/CO1:COM]) for December delivery ended -1.4% to $61.06/bbl, the fifth decline in the past six sessions for both benchmarks and the lowest settlement since May 5.

U.S. natural gas futures (NG1:COM [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/NG1:COM]) fell for a third straight day the EIA reported a weekly storage build of 80 Bcf, in line with expectations, keeping inventories on track to start the winter at a surplus; the front-month Nymex November contract settled -2.6% at $2.938/MMBtu.

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