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By Henning Gloystein
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices tumbled on Friday after the US announced crude production of 12 million barrels a day, undermining the Middle East-dominated producer club's efforts. OPEC, to restrict supply and tighten global markets.
WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude oil futures were $ 56.85 per barrel at 00:10 GMT, down 11 cents (0.2%) from their latest settlement.
Futures contracts on international Brent have yet to be traded.
Crude oil production in the United States reached 12 million barrels a day for the first time last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Thursday.
(GRAPH: link to US oil production and storage levels: https://tmsnrt.rs/2Vanxza).
This means that US crude oil production has increased by almost 2.5 million bpd since the beginning of 2018 and 5 million bpd since 2013. America is the only country to achieve a production of 12 million bpd .
As production increases, US oil stocks also increase.
Commercial stocks of crude oil in the United States rose 3.7 million barrels during the week ending Feb. 15, reaching 454.5 million barrels, EIA announced.
Analysts say US oil companies will export more oil to sell off their surplus stocks.
"The continued increase in US production is a downward momentum for market prices, especially as increasing volumes are being sold abroad, which is a direct challenge for the United States. Saudi Arabia and Russia, "said John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital in New York.
For the moment, at least, the price cuts have put an end to the recovery that has propelled crude to highs in 2019 this week, due to the reduction in supply led by the World Trade Organization. oil exporting countries (OPEC).
OPEC and some unaffiliated producers, such as Russia, agreed late last year to reduce production by 1.2 million bpd to prevent a significant increase in supply.
US sanctions against oil exporters, Iran and Venezuela, also weighed on prices.
(Report by Henning Gloystein, edited by Joseph Radford)
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