Extending losses from Goldman's overnight report noting the minimal impact of Venezuelan sanctions, WTI crude just crashed below $49 on heavy volume after Bloomberg reports that a survey suggests that OPEC's July oil output rose by 210K to 32.87mmb/d, led by growth in Libya who upped production by 180Kb/d to the highest since June 2013.
The recovery of crude production from Libya is undermining OPEC’s efforts to curb its output as the African nation pumps unabated.
Total crude production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in July rose 210,000 barrels a day from June to reach 32.87 million barrels a day, according to a Bloomberg News survey of analysts, oil companies and ship-tracking data.
Libya -- which along with Nigeria is exempt from making cuts as it seeks to restore output lost to internal strife -- led those gains, adding 180,000 barrels a day. Production rose to 1.02 million barrels a day, the highest level since June 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Not exactly confirming the "market is rebalancing" narrative...
The S&P 500 desperately tried to ignore crude's early weakness but this recent move is dragging stocks lower...
The $50-level is “a psychological level. People are really beginning to realize that the market probably needs a steady beat of bullish information to continue to rally,” Gene McGillian, market research manager at Tradition Energy, says to Bloomberg. “If we don’t get a really positive inventory report this week, the market is vulnerable to a nice little turnaround” after rallying the last couple of weeks