Oil drops for fourth consecutive session after US inventory buildup

Oil futures fell in American trade to the lowest in two weeks, as the dollar bounced off the highest since October 20, following a basket of data from the US, including the EIA report that showed a surprising inventory buildup. 

As of 06:40 GMT, US West Texas Intermediate shed 0.65% to $55.34 a barrel from the opening of $55.70, while Brent futures due on January 15 declined 0.53% to $61.88 a barrel from the opening of $62.21, as the dollar index edged up 0.04% to 93.86 from the opening of 93.83. 

Earlier US data showed consumer prices rose just 0.1% in October in line with expectations, down from September's 0.6% increase, while core prices, excluding food and fuel, rose 0.2% m/m, matching forecasts and above September's 0.1% reading. 

US retail sales rose 0.2% m/m in October, beating expectations of no-change and slowing down sharply from September's 1.9% rise, revised higher from 1.6%, while core sales, excluding automobiles, rose 0.1%, below expectations of 0.2%, and compared to September's 1.2% rise, revised higher as well from 1.0%. 

The Empire State Manufacturing Index slid in November to 19.4, missing expectations of 25.5 and sharply down from October's 30.2. 

The Energy Information Administration released its report on US crude stocks, showing a buildup of 1.9 million barrels in the week ending November 11, adding to the previous week's 2.1M increase, while analysts expected a 2.1M drop, with total stocks now reaching 459.0 million barrels, remaining within the upward range on average in this time of year. 

Otherwise, gasoline stocks in the world's largest energy consumer rose 0.9 million barrels, while distillate stocks, including heating fuel, fell 0.8 million barrels, remaining within the lower range on average in this time of year.  

Earlier this week, the International Energy Agency cut its projections for global oil demand in 2018 by 200 thousand bpd to 98.9 million bpd, while cutting forecasts for global demand growth by 100 thousand bpd to 1.3 million bpd, as a more-than-usual moderate weather in the winter hurt heating fuel demand, while the recent spike in prices pave the way for more US shale production and hurt the market balance efforts in 2018.