* U.S. crude stockpiles build as refineries cut back runs -
EIA
* Weak U.S. manufacturing data weighs on global shares
* Iran's oil minister calls Saudi counterpart a friend
* Iran predicts slight supply surplus next year
(New throughout, udpates prices, market activity and comments
to settlement)
By Devika Krishna Kumar
NEW YORK, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than 2% on
Wednesday after official data showed a rise in U.S. crude
inventories, adding to worries about an oversupplied market as
weak economic readings in the United States depressed global
financial markets.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 settled down $1.20, or 2%, at
$57.69 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude
futures CLc1 fell 98 cents, or 1.8%, to settle $52.64 a
barrel.
Wall Street's main indexes tumbled more than 2% as data
suggested fallout from the U.S.-China trade war was hurting the
U.S. labor market. World equity
benchmarks hit their lowest levels in a month.
U.S. crude inventories USOILC=ECI rose 3.1 million barrels
last week, the Energy Information Administration said, far
exceeding analyst expectations for an increase of 1.6 million
barrels.
Crude stocks at the Cushing, Oklahoma, delivery hub for WTI
fell by 201,000 barrels, EIA said. EIA/S
"I think you're continuing to get signs that demand growth
is the primary drag on the market, with the disappointing
manufacturing number that came out yesterday," said Gene
McGillian, vice president of market research at Tradition Energy
in Stamford, Connecticut.
On Tuesday, front-month WTI prices settled down for a sixth
straight session, their longest losing streak this year after
data showed U.S. manufacturing activity dropped to a 10-year
low. "Even with 12 days and counting of bearish trading action on
WTI futures, that market is now only starting to reach oversold
territory. $50.50 remains a key support level," said David
Thompson, executive vice president at Powerhouse, an
energy-specialized commodities broker in Washington.
Signs of easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East
also weighed on prices, traders said. Tensions flared after
Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for an attack on Saudi oil facilities
on Sept. 14., a charge Tehran denies.
Iran's Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh sought to defuse tensions
with Saudi Arabia, calling his counterpart in Riyadh "a friend"
and saying Tehran was committed to stability in the region.
Both oil ministers, who have repeatedly clashed at
OPEC meetings over output policies, were attending a top Russian
energy conference chaired by President Vladimir Putin.
Iran's oil minister said he expected a slight surplus in oil
supply next year. Putin said it was important to use all available tools to
balance energy markets. He pledged Russia would
remain a major player in OPEC+, the alliance between the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other
oil-producing nations, which has cut output by 1.2 million
barrels per day.
The United Arab Emirates' Minister of Energy and Industry
Suhail al-Mazrouei said conformity levels were the same as
previously announced at the last OPEC+ joint ministerial
monitoring committee meeting.
Ecuador, one of the smallest OPEC members, said it would
leave the 14-nation bloc from Jan. 1 due to fiscal problems.
Ecuador will be the second country to withdraw from OPEC in the
last year after Qatar.
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U.S. manufacturing https://tmsnrt.rs/2pcL2gs
OPEC Production png https://tmsnrt.rs/2nl7GCI
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