Oil holds steady as investors weigh weak demand, potential delay in OPEC+ output rise By Reuters

(Reuters) – Oil tried to hold its line in early trade on Thursday after an overnight sell-off as players grappled with weak demand, along with a possible delay in more supply entering the market next month.

November futures were up 9 cents, or 0.12 percent, at $72.79 at 00:02 GMT, after falling 1.42 percent in the previous session. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures for October delivery were up 12 cents, or 0.17 percent, at $69.32, after falling 1.62 percent on Wednesday.

Both benchmarks were down $1 at Wednesday’s close.

OPEC+ is discussing delaying an oil production increase scheduled to start in October after oil prices fell to a nine-month low on September 3, four sources in the producer group told Reuters on Wednesday.

Last week, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its Russia-led allies (OPEC+) were expected to continue raising production by 180,000 barrels a day in October as part of a plan to gradually overcome the most recent cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day. .

But the end of a dispute that halted Libyan exports and weak demand from China, which culminated in oil hitting multi-month lows, prompted the group to reconsider.

“The (OPEC+) report brought some relief to markets in early trading,” ANZ analysts said in a note.

However, demand concerns following news that factory activity in China contracted for a fourth straight month in August added pressure, ANZ added.

Data released over the weekend by the Chinese government revealed that the country’s manufacturing activity fell to a six-month low last month as factory-gate prices fell and owners scrambled for orders.

China is the largest importer of crude oil in the world.

Meanwhile, oil and fuel stockpiles fell last week, according to market sources citing figures from the American Petroleum Institute on Wednesday.

API figures showed crude inventories fell by 7.431 million barrels in the week ended Aug. 30, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity, compared with analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll for a draw of one million barrels.

The market awaits weekly data on US oil inventories from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), due out at 11:00 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT) on Thursday.