Investing.com - West Texas Intermediate oil futures fell to a two-week low on Wednesday, amid speculation weekly supply data due later in the week will show U.S. crude inventories rose at a faster pace than expected last week.
Crude oil for delivery in December on the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 43 cents, or 0.97%, to trade at $43.78 a barrel during European morning hours. It earlier fell to $43.55, the lowest since October 28. A day earlier, Nymex oil prices inched up 34 cents, or 0.78%.
After markets closed Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said that U.S. crude inventories rose by 6.3 million barrels in the week ended November 6.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its weekly report on oil supplies at 11:00AM ET Thursday. The data was expected to show that crude inventories rose by 1.0 million barrels last week. The report comes out one day later than usual due to Wednesday's Veterans Day's holiday in the U.S.
Despite a tighter production outlook in the U.S., total crude inventories stood near levels not seen for this time of year in at least the last 80 years.
Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for January delivery shed 13 cents, or 0.28%, to trade at $47.97 a barrel.
On Tuesday, Brent prices fell to a two-week low of $46.95 as ongoing worries over the health of the global economy fueled concerns that a global supply glut may stick around for longer than anticipated.
China's National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday that industrial production rose by an annualized rate of 5.6% in October, below expectations for a 5.8% increase and slowing from a gain of 5.7% in the preceding month.
The soft data followed disappointing Chinese trade and inflation figures earlier in the week.
The downbeat reports reinforced the view that the economy remains in the midst of a gradual slowdown which will require policymakers in Beijing to roll out more measures to boost growth in coming months.
The Asian nation is the world's second largest oil consumer after the U.S. and has been the engine of strengthening demand.
The oil market has been volatile in recent months amid uncertainty about how quickly the global glut of crude is set to shrink.
Global oil production is outpacing demand following a boom in U.S. shale oil production and after a decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries last year not to cut production.
OPEC will meet on December 4 to decide whether to extend their strategy of defending market share by keeping production high.