Oil prices extend losses

London, Sep 1 (AFP) Oil prices weakened further todaywith sentiment weighed down by a sharp rise in US crudestockpiles, dealers said. At 1700 IST, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate forOctober delivery was down six cents at USD 44.64 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for November delivery receded 11cents to USD 46.78 a barrel compared with yesterday’s close. The market plunged yesterday after the US Department ofEnergy (DoE) said commercial inventories in the world’s topconsumer last week rose to 525.9 million barrels – and werenow 16 per cent higher than the same period last year. The figures, which came despite a dip in production,poured fresh fuel on fears about a global supply glut that hasdogged the crude market for several years. Output was down slightly at 8.49 million barrels per day,a drop of 60,000 barrels per day on last week. But importsrose by 275,000 barrels per day to 8.92 million barrels. "US crude stockpiles have risen while OPEC heavyweightssuch as Saudi Arabia and Iraq continue to pump incessantlyinto a market that is already heavily saturated," said analystLukman Otunuga at traders FXTM. He added: "Persistent concerns over the excessiveoversupply of oil in the global markets (have) hauntedinvestor attraction towards the commodity. "It is becoming increasingly clear that investors havedigested the oversupply reality with the fading optimism overOPEC securing a freeze deal in September’s informal meetingenticing sellers to attack further." Prices had soared last month as OPEC and Russia agreed tohold talks to address the supply crisis. But those gains have been slowly wiped away by a strongdollar – making oil more expensive for holders of other units- and uncertainty over OPEC member and key producer Iran’sparticipation in the talks. Analysts remain doubtful oil producers will agree to anylimits at the meeting in Algeria this month. Traders are meanwhile awaiting tomorrow’s key US jobsdata, which could spur the Federal Reserve to hike interestrates and in turn send the dollar higher, denting oil demandfurther. (AFP)SAI