Oil steady above $59, OPEC talks more cuts By Simon Webb
Wed Nov 8, 6:56 AM ET
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil crept above $59 a barrel on Wednesday, as Gulf OPEC ministers meeting in Abu Dhabi pledged to push through a supply cut agreed last month and said a further reduction could follow.
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U.S. crude was up 25 cents to $59.18 a barrel by 1140 GMT. London Brent crude was up 22 cents at $58.70.
Prices had fallen by more than a dollar on Tuesday after a U.S. government agency said OPEC would only carry out 60 percent of a 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) production curb.
But officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Wednesday dismissed the U.S. report.
"All of OPEC is committed (to the cuts)," United Arab Emirates Oil Minister Mohammed bin Dhaen al-Hamli said.
The world's largest oil exporter Saudi Arabia, as well as other OPEC members, have said the oil market remains oversupplied.
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Monday the cartel would take further action to cut supplies at its next meeting on December 14 if world markets remained imbalanced, deepening the 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) cut from November 1.
OPEC members were concerned about high levels of stocks in the United States and other consuming nations, which have helped to pull prices down by around 25 percent from the record high of $78.40 for U.S. crude in July.
Weekly U.S. oil inventory data to be released later on Wednesday were forecast to show crude stockpiles rose by a modest 700,000 barrels last week, according to a Reuters poll of analysts.
Distillate stocks, including heating oil, were expected to be down by 500,000 barrels, while gasoline inventories were seen unchanged.
But Goldman Sachs said inventories were being eroded by stronger than expected demand.
"We continue to believe that the recent, lower oil price levels will prove short-lived, particularly as the lower prices have contributed to exceptionally strong demand growth in the U.S.," the investment bank wrote in a report.
It maintained its price forecast of $75.50 for U.S. crude next year.
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