Oil Drops Below $50

Oil dropped below $50 for the first time since December after concerns that OPEC’s output cuts aren’t tempering a surplus in the U.S. triggered the biggest slump in more than a year.

Futures dropped as much as 2.2 percent in New York to $49.20 after losing 5.7 percent the previous three sessions. Stockpiles rose 8.2 million to the highest level in weekly government data since 1982. Harold Hamm, the U.S. shale oil billionaire, warned on Wednesday that the industry could “kill” the crude market if it embarks on another spending binge.

Oil had fluctuated above $50 a barrel since the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other nations started trimming supply for six months starting Jan. 1 to reduce a global glut. While U.S. shale production has rebounded, larger-than-expected cuts elsewhere and signs of growing demand suggest stockpiles will decline, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

“The bottom line here is you have wide compliance within OPEC with the production cuts and on the other hand you have increased production out of the U.S.,” Hans Goetti, chief strategist for the Middle East and Asia at Banque Internationale a Luxembourg, said in a Bloomberg television interview. “The shale oil industry in the U.S. has made great strides to cut costs.”

West Texas Intermediate for April delivery dropped 74 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $49.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:17 a.m. in London. Total volume traded was about 60 percent above the 100-day average. The contract lost $2.86, or 5.4 percent, to $50.28 on Wednesday, the biggest decline in percentage terms since February 2016.

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Dean Popplewell

Dean Popplewell

Vice-President of Market Analysis at MarketPulse
Dean Popplewell has nearly two decades of experience trading currencies and fixed income instruments. He has a deep understanding of market fundamentals and the impact of global events on capital markets. He is respected among professional traders for his skilled analysis and career history as global head of trading for firms such as Scotia Capital and BMO Nesbitt Burns. Since joining OANDA in 2006, Dean has played an instrumental role in driving awareness of the forex market as an emerging asset class for retail investors, as well as providing expert counsel to a number of internal teams on how to best serve clients and industry stakeholders.
Dean Popplewell