Oil Extends Losses

Oil prices were on course for their sixth straight day of falls on Friday, dragged lower by a surge in US crude inventories, timid demand and doubts over the ability of producers to coordinate output cuts.

Brent crude futures were at $46.18 per barrel, down 17 cents from their last close. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were down 2 cents at $44.65 a barrel, Reuters reported.

The dips put crude on the longest losing run since June and, before that, since January, with Brent shedding almost 14% since its recent peak in mid-October.

“There has been a very strong retreat and technically, prices are starting to reach oversold levels,” Olivier Jakob of consultancy Petromatrix said. Analysts said markets were also weighed down by traders pulling out money from futures ahead of the US presidential election, which is seen as a risk to markets.

Global share prices fell to their lowest levels since early July on Friday on uncertainty over the election outcome.

Beyond election concerns, traders said fundamentals were weak, with US crude stocks surging, demand growth low, and doubts that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producer Russia can agree on a meaningful output cut this month.