Oil Falls on New Signs of Sizable U.S. Crude Stockpiles

(Bloomberg) -- Oil fell for the first time in a week amid renewed signs of swelling crude inventories in the world’s biggest economy.

Futures dropped 1.5% in New York on Monday with the biggest settlement change in two weeks. Data provider Genscape Inc. said oil stored at a key Oklahoma storage hub expanded by 1.5 million barrels last week, reviving concerns about sluggish demand and ample inventories. Meanwhile, Russia threw cold water on expectations a new round of major supply curbs are imminent.

“Economic uncertainties continue to weigh on prices, as they raise questions around oil demand growth and reduce risk appetite,” said Harry Tchilinguirian, head of commodity and market strategy at BNP Paribas in London.

Oil prices have been under pressure for months as the protracted trade dispute between the U.S. and China erodes demand growth and clouds the worldwide economic outlook. Global markets are “awash” in crude amid booming output from U.S. shale fields, Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in an interview on Sunday.

WTI for December delivery fell 85 cents to settle at $55.81 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent for December settlement fell 45 cents to close at $61.57 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe Exchange. The global benchmark traded at a $5.76 premium to WTI.

While net-long positions on WTI crude rose in the week ended Oct. 22, those bets are still at half the level they reached last month. That signals there’s still a lot of skepticism, and it will probably take major news to trigger a sustained rally.

“There’s hesitation on heavily long positions to start the week,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jacquelyn Melinek in New York at jmelinek@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Marino at dmarino4@bloomberg.net, Catherine Traywick, Mike Jeffers

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