Oil prices edged up on Oct. 14, pushed by a tighter U.S. fuel market and as technical indicators attracted buying from financial players, but doubts over the feasibility of a planned production cut still weighed on markets.
Following a dip in early trading, international Brent crude futures were trading at $52.18 per barrel (bbl) at 1:43 a.m. CT (6:43 GMT), up 15 cents, or 0.29% from their previous close.
After falling below $50/bbl on Oct. 13, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was trading at $50.78/bbl, up 34 cents or 0.67% from its last close.
Traders said the U.S. price rise was due to a tightening fuel market.
"Oil prices rose overnight despite rising stockpiles in the U.S., as fuel supplies in the U.S. fell to the lowest level this year," ANZ bank said in a morning note on Oct. 14.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a drop of 3.7 MMbbl for distillates late on Oct. 13, which include diesel and heating oil, and a 1.9 MMbbl decline for gasoline.
However, U.S. crude stocks rose for the first time in six weeks, swelling by 4.9 MMbbl in the week to Oct. 7 to 474 MMbbl.
RELATED: Report: US Crude Stocks Rebound; Product Inventories Fall
Outside the U.S., traders said that Brent prices were being supported by technical indicators, which had attracted investment from financial market participants.
Reuters' technical analyst Wang Tao said Brent could test resistance at $52.49/bbll, a break above which could lead to a gain to $53.45.
The price rises came despite rising doubts that a planned oil output cut by OPEC and potentially non-OPEC member Russia would be sufficient to rein in a global production overhang standing at around 500 Mbbl/d in excess of consumption.
"Oil prices continue to trend up despite our doubts around OPEC's dubious return to the quota system," U.S. bank Jefferies said on Oct. 14.
"Talk of cutting output in some quarters appears to be morphing into talks of a freeze in supply. We are doubtful that OPEC's efforts, even if successful in achieving a targeted 32.5 MMbbl/d in collective output, will prove sufficient to materially alter the global oil balance and deliver a substantial reduction in oil inventories," French bank BNP Paribas said in a note to clients.
OPEC's crude oil production stood at a record 33.6 MMbbl/d in September.
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