OL: Oil Prices Slip Further On US Inventory Report
Oil slipped further below $56 a barrel (bbl) on Feb. 15 as an industry report showing a large rise in U.S. crude inventories signaled ample supply, even as OPEC achieves record compliance with its supply-cut accord.
U.S. inventories rose by a larger-than-expected 9.9 MMbbl last week, the American Petroleum Institute (API) trade group said on Feb. 14, ahead of the Energy Information Administration's (EIA) official supply report.
"The inventory trend in the U.S. raises doubts about whether the OPEC production cuts have actually resulted already in a tighter supply situation," said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank.
Brent crude was down 13 cents at $55.84 by 4:40 a.m. CT (10:40 GMT), half its level of mid-2014, when a global glut started a collapse in prices. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 23 cents to $52.97.
To support prices, OPEC and other producers including Russia are cutting output by almost 1.8 MMbbl/d in the first half of 2017.