* U.S., China announce initial trade deal
* China to buy up to $50 bln more in U.S. energy supplies in
2 yrs
* U.S. gasoline stocks at highest since Feb, distillates
surge
* U.S. crude production at new record high at 13 mln bpd-
EIA
* Bigger-than-expected draw in U.S. crude inventories - EIA
* OPEC sees weak demand for its oil
(Adds settlement prices, fresh quote)
By Arathy S Nair
NEW YORK, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Oil prices were down slightly
on Wednesday, pressured early by data showing big increases in
U.S. refined products but recovered some of the losses later by
the signing of a Phase 1 trade deal between Washington and
Beijing.
Brent LCOc1 futures lost 49 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at
$64 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude
CLc1 ended 42 cents, or 0.7%, lower at $57.81.
"The bullish impetus that we had expected off of today's
weekly EIA report failed to develop and as a result, the complex
appears headed for lower levels than we had anticipated despite
the late session recovery," Jim Ritterbusch, president of
trading advisory firm Ritterbusch and Associates, said in a
note.
Under the Phase 1 trade agreement, China will buy $18.5
billion more in U.S. energy products in the first year and $33.9
billion in the second. However, commodity traders and analysts remained cautious -
struggling to map out how China will reach the eye-popping
amounts it is committing to buy from the United States.
Trump said he would remove all U.S. tariffs on Chinese
imports as soon as the two countries completed Phase 2 of their
trade agreement, adding he does not expect there to be a Phase 3
pact. Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago,
said prices pared early losses on "optimism surrounding the
U.S.-China trade deal and expectations that oil demand is going
to continue to be solid."
Earlier, oil prices fell to their lowest in over a month
after the U.S. government reported big increases in gasoline and
distillates inventories and a record crude output.
U.S. gasoline stockpiles last week rose to their highest
since February, while distillate inventories jumped to their
most since September 2017, according to the U.S. Energy
Information Administration (EIA). "I think they were able to look past the build in gasoline
and distillates, realizing that it will probably work itself out
in the next couple of weeks," Flynn said.
The EIA report also showed crude production for the week
ended Jan. 10 rose to 13 million barrels per day (bpd) and a
much-bigger-than-expected draw in crude inventories.
Both oil benchmarks were also hit by a report from the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that said the
producer group expected lower demand for its oil in 2020 even as
global demand rises, as rival producers grab market share.
Output in the United States was expected to touch another record
in 2020.
"The continued accommodative monetary policies, coupled with
an improvement in financial markets, could provide further
support to ongoing increases in non-OPEC supply," OPEC said.
OPEC and some non-OPEC allies such as Russia have been
curbing production to prevent an oil glut and support oil prices
above $60 per barrel. Their current deal expires in March.