Oil Prices Hover Near Unchanged

Oil prices wavered between gains and losses after a group of major oil producers said output increased last month, despite their efforts to limit global supply.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries reported its collective production shot up by 90,000 barrels a day in September. The increase was driven by higher production in Libya, Nigeria, Iraq and Gabon.

OPEC also revised upward its forecast for global oil demand growth by about 30,000 barrels a day for both 2017 and 2018.

U.S. crude futures traded near unchanged at $50.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent, the global benchmark, fell 10 cents, or 0.18%, to $56.51 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

In recent months, traders have been watching OPEC's output level as producers led by the oil cartel attempt to reduce global oversupply with an output cut.

Russian and Saudi Arabian officials have signaled they are ready to extend a continuing oil production cut deal to the end of 2018, but some analysts are skeptical that other key oil suppliers would agree to an extension.

Earlier in the week, oil futures received a boost from Saudi Arabia's plans to cut crude exports next month.

Saudi Arabia said it would limit crude export allocations for November to 7.15 million barrels a day, according to analysts from JBC Energy. This would put the kingdom's exports more than 1.1 million barrels a day lower than its record overseas sales in November 2016.

"I think the news that the Saudis cut exports in November curtailed declines. Whether that's enough to restart the rally remains to be seen, " said Gene McGillian, research manager at Tradition Energy.

Still, not everybody is convinced by Saudi Arabia's numbers.

"This reduction in supply relates to an unverifiable reference level," said Commerzbank analysts in a recent note. "Saudi Arabian oil exports will actually increase significantly."

Analysts also say other countries such as Russia and Iraq are likely to step in to fill a potential fall in production if Saudi Arabia does reduce its exports.

Other experts attribute oil's recent ascent to creeping political risk in the Middle East.

President Donald Trump is expected to refuse to certify that Iran is in compliance with the 2015 international nuclear agreement, which could trigger additional U.S. sanctions against Tehran.

Iran boosted its oil production after international sanctions against the nation were removed in early 2016 as part of a nuclear deal with six world powers.

"The market was not pricing in enough of a risk premium for Iran due to what President Trump needs to announce before the end of the week in regards to decertification" of the agreement, said Olivier Jakob, managing director at oil consultancy Petromatrix.

Investors will be watching for oil market data from the International Energy Agency on Thursday.

Gasoline futures rose 0.86 cent, or 0.54%, to $1.6001 a gallon. Diesel futures rose 0.38 cent, or 0.22%, to $1.7687 a gallon.

Christopher Alessi and Alison Sider contributed to this article

Write to Neanda Salvaterra at neanda.salvaterra@wsj.com and Biman Mukherji at biman.mukherji@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 11, 2017 11:31 ET (15:31 GMT)