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Oil Halts Drop Near $60 as U.S. Supplies Seen Falling Third Week

©2015 Bloomberg News
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(Bloomberg) — Oil halted a four-day decline to trade near $60 a barrel before U.S. government data forecast to show crude stockpiles slid for a third week.

Futures were little changed in New York after dropping 2.2 percent in the past four trading sessions. Inventories probably fell by 2 million barrels through May 15, according to a Bloomberg survey before an Energy Information Administration report Wednesday. Saudi Arabia shipped more oil in March than in any month since November 2005 as the world’s biggest crude exporter battled for market share.

Oil’s recovery from a six-year low has faltered near $60 a barrel amid speculation rising prices will encourage production and sustain a supply glut. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has resisted calls to reduce its output, exacerbating the oversupply. The group next meets on June 5 in Vienna.

“There is still ample supply for the demand that we’re seeing,” David Lennox, a resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney, said by phone. “We’ve probably seen the bottom but it could still be volatile on the downside until we do get real production cuts.”

West Texas Intermediate for July delivery rose 11 cents to $60.35 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:45 a.m. Sydney time. June futures, which expire Tuesday, climbed 16 cents to $59.59. The volume of all futures traded was about 72 percent below the 100-day average. Front- month prices are up 12 percent this year.

Brent for July settlement climbed 8 cents to $66.35 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. It decreased 54 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $66.27 on Monday. The European benchmark crude was at a premium of $5.97 to WTI for the same month.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne at bsharples@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pratish Narayanan at pnarayanan9@bloomberg.net Aaron Clark

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Men of Value Contributor

Men of Value Contributor

Articles by various contributors to Men of Value, an online magazine for American men who value our Judeo-Christian values of faith, family, and freedom.

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