Crude Oil Ends Below $46 Ahead Of Supply Data; OPEC Not To Curb Output

(RTTNews) - U.S. crude oil rallied towards the close but still ended lower for a third straight session on Tuesday, ahead of the official weekly oil report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and after a top Middle East oil producer said it will not curb production anytime soon.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will stick to its decision to keep oil output unchanged even if prices continue to fall, the United Arab Emirates' oil minister said Tuesday.

UAE oil minister Suhail Mohamed Faraj al-Mazrouei said in Abu Dhabi, "[OPEC] cannot continue protecting a certain price. That is not the only aim of OPEC." He added, "We are concerned about the balance of the market but we cannot be the only party that is responsible to balance the market."

It is thought that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are wielding influence over the oil cartel, pumping oil in hopes of crippling non-OPEC rivals and delaying the adoption of renewable energies.

A number of investment banks have slashed their outlook for crude prices this week, including Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

With no bottom in sight, U.S. WTI crude oil is at its lowest in more than five years, with prices having dropped more than 55 percent from last summer's highs above $100.

Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for February delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropped $0.18 or 0.3 percent to close at $45.89 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Tuesday.

Crude prices for February delivery scaled a high of $46.18 a barrel intraday and a low of $44.20.

On Monday, crude oil plunged to end at a near six-year low on continued worries of oversupply, with Goldman Sachs and Societe Generale slashing its outlook for crude prices.

The dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against six major currencies, traded at 92.22 on Tuesday, up from its previous close of 92.08 late Monday in North American trade. The dollar scaled a high of 92.43 intraday and a low of 91.81.

The euro trended lower against the dollar at $1.1779 on Tuesday, as compared to its previous close of $1.1835 late Monday in North American trade. The euro scaled a high of $1.1861 intraday and a low of $1.1756.

In economic news, China's trade surplus decreased slightly less than expected in December as exports rose more than forecast while imports continued to fall, although at a slower than expected rate, data from the customs office showed on Tuesday.

China's trade surplus dropped to $49.6 billion in December from November's record high of $54.48 billion. Economists expected the trade surplus to decrease to $49 billion.

Germany's wholesale price decline accelerated for a second straight month in December with prices falling the most in five years during the whole year 2014, preliminary figures from Destatis showed Tuesday. The wholesale price index fell 2.3 percent year-on-year in December, faster than November's 1.1 percent decline. In October, prices dropped 0.7 percent.

Elsewhere in Europe, U.K. inflation slowed more-than-expected to its lowest since May 2000 on lower fuel prices, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday. Inflation halved to 0.5 percent in December from 1 percent in November. It was expected to ease to 0.7 percent.

Another report from ONS today showed that output prices in U.K. declined at a faster pace of 0.8 percent annually in December after falling 0.6 percent in November. It was faster than the 0.4 percent drop forecast by economists.

The American Petroleum Institute is out with its U.S. crude oil inventories report this afternoon. Official data from the U.S. Energy Department follows tomorrow morning.