Brent Below $103 On OPEC Output

Brent sunk to a 13 month low on Wednesday as a global oversupply outweighed concerns about instability in all corners of the world. The commodity traded at $102.77 at 8:15 GMT on Wednesday morning following a report that showed OPEC’s output had increased.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said its crude output had increased to 30.44 million barrels per day in July, a five month high. A modest decline in oil production in Iraq, Iran and Nigeria was mitigated by robust production in Saudi Arabia and an increase in output from Libya. The news brought Brent prices lower as no new developments in the crises in Iraq and Ukraine have provided any cause for concern about the availability of crude.

Also weighing on crude prices preliminary data from China which Reuters analysts calculated to show that the nation’s implied oil demand was down 2 percent annually to 9.57 million barrels per day. The data, out on Wednesday morning, showed that the nation’s industrial output was up 9 percent in July, but retail sales missed forecasts and rose only 12.2 percent.

Recent figures from China have shown that the nation’s economy is slowly recovering after a period of slow growth. However, the service sector as well as imports still appear to be struggling, which has lead many to believe that Beijing will have to provide more stimulus measures in the future to keep the growth moving.

Moving forward investors will be watching for the US Energy Information Administration’s crude inventory report, which is expected to show a 2 million barrel decrease. However, the American Petroleum Institute’s version of the same report was released on Tuesday and showed a 229,000 barrel rise last week. Now, investors will be looking to the EIA report for a complete picture of the number one oil consuming nation’s crude appetite.