Oil futures tumble for second session despite dollar's fall

Oil futures tumbled nearly two percent in American trade even as the dollar index hit the lowest since June 24, 2016, amid a lack of data from the US, the world's largest energy consumer, and ahead of the the Opec and non-Opec Oversight Committee's meeting in Petersburg, Russia. 

As of 05:04 GMT, US crude futures due on September 15 fell 1.68% to $46.13 a barrel from the opening of $46.92, while Brent crude futures due on September 15 slumped 1.52% to $48.55 a barrel from the opening of $49.30, as the dollar index shed 0.27% to 94.05 from the opening of 94.31, marking a 13-month low. 

A report from Russian oil company Petro-Logistics SA showed OPEC's output rose 145 thousand bpd, surpassing 33 million barrels in June, pointing the finger at Saudi Arabia and Emirates for producing more crude recently, in addition to the exempted countries such as Nigeria and Libya.  

Otherwise, the Energy Information Administration released its report on US crude stocks earlier this week, showing a drawdown of 4.7 million barrels in the week ending July 14, adding to a 7.6M drawdown in the previous reading, while analysts expected only a 3.6M drop, with total stocks now reaching 490.6 million barrels, remaining within the uppermost range on average in this time of year. 

Gasoline stocks fell 4.4 million barrels, while distillate inventories, including heating fuel, fell 2.1 million, both remaining within the uppermost range on average in this time of year. 

Similarly, International Energy Agency official Neil Atkinson projected a drop in global oil supply in the second half of this year, underpinning prices, while pointing to the gains as small due to the resilience of US shale production.