Oil down 2%, reversing gains in one day only; Inventory data expected by Investing.com

By Barani Krishnan

Investing.com – The oil rebound should not last more than one day, as many have guessed correctly.

And with the return of UK Brent to less than $ 60 a barrel, the wait is launched see how long the US West Texas Intermediate will retain its support at $ 50.

Traders also want to know if the first US stock of crude will be imported in ten weeks.

Speculation of an inventory deficit helped oil prices stay briefly up for a second day in a row Tuesday, now the WTI well above $ 50, albeit limited . The bullish sentiment faded as trading progressed around noon.

At 12:25 pm (5:25 pm GMT), it was down 97 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $ 50.66 a barrel, wiping out the bulk of Monday's 2.4 percent gain. the minimum of the session was $ 50.31. WTI remains about 35% below the four-year high of nearly $ 77 per barrel hit in early October. On Friday alone, it fell 8% to a low of $ 50.16 for 13 months.

The world benchmark for oil slipped $ 1.09, or 1.8%, to $ 59.47 a barrel after gaining about 2% from the previous session. Brent remains higher by more than 30% above the four-year high of about $ 87 a barrel, reached early last month. On Friday, it dropped more than 5%, breaking the $ 60 support that had been in place since July 2017.

The American Petroleum Institute will issue at 4:30 pm. ET (9:30 pm GMT) an overview of supply and demand for US crude last week, ahead of official data released on Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration. The numbers of the two have diverged in the past, the smaller sampling of the API can even sometimes give the direction of data – build or draw – erroneous.

Consensus shows forecasters demand 600,000 barrels for the week ended Nov. 23.

Some estimates were naturally much higher.

"I'm thinking of a crude draw of up to 3 million barrels from a refinery increasing its gasoline production," said Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group, which generally has an optimistic view of oil. "But I think we will see a sufficient drop in gasoline and distillate products as well as actual demand."

Any shortage of crude oil stocks in the United States would be the first since the week of September 26, nearly 53 million barrels in nine consecutive weeks.

Aside from stocks, the market was also supported earlier in the day over the rumor that OPEC could eventually cut production at its December 6 meeting, defying the president's persistent tweets Donald Trump. Saudi-led cartel oil should be fluid and at lower prices too

Bloomberg announced that 31 badysts and traders from a 36-nation global survey predicted that the OPEC + coalition, including non-member Russia, would announce its production next month, next month it should remain at 1.1 million barrels.