TOKYO, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell for a fourth day
on Wednesday, extending losses after a surge in U.S. inventories
surprised investors, overshadowing an interest rate cut by the
Federal Reserve.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 6 cents at $60.55 a
barrel by 0033 GMT, having fallen by 1.6% on Wednesday.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were
down by 16 cents, 0.3%, at $54.90 a barrel, after declining
0.9%.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut interest rates for a
third time this year and signalled it plans no further cuts
unless the economy takes a turn for the worse. While a rate cut can often be bullish for oil prices because
a stronger economy typically implies higher demand for crude,
investors focused on soaring U.S. crude oil stockpiles amid
higher imports and a release from national reserves.
"Oversupply concerns are dampening the optimistic outlook to
the economy that the Fed painted," said Edward Moya, senior
market analyst at OANDA.
Crude inventories USOILC=ECI rose 5.7 million barrels in
the week to Oct. 25, the U.S. Energy Information Administration
said on Wednesday, compared with analysts' expectations for a
494,000-barrel build. EIA/S
On Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry
group, had reported a 708,000-barrel decline in inventories,
raising hopes that official figures would also show a drop.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for U.S.
crude futures USOICC=ECI rose for a fourth straight week,
gaining 1.6 million barrels last week, the EIA said.
Still, gasoline and distillate inventories extended their
declines even as refiners ramped up production, it said.
Gasoline stocks USOILG=ECI fell by 3 million barrels,
compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 2.2
million-barrel drop. The fifth weekly drop brought stocks down
to 220.1 million barrels, their lowest since Nov. 2017.
Distillate stockpiles USOILD=ECI , which include diesel and
heating oil, declined for a sixth week in a row, falling 1
million barrels last week, versus expectations for a 2.4
million-barrel drop, the EIA data showed.