(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors - UK)
Brent crude was changing hands at around US$31.50 on Wednesday as investors tried to figure out which way to look.
Reports yesterday suggested OPEC could be prepared to make arrangements with non-members such as Russia that could help curb some oversupply in the market.
It was a rare good news story for the downtrodden market. But now - a day a little scepticism and a lot more crude on the stockpile later - much of Tuesday's optimism has faded and oil prices remain in the doldrums.
Statistics from the American Petroleum Institute have revealed that last week another 11.4mln barrels of oil was added to the US inventory which is now estimated to hold some 496mln barrels.
The latest cache increased by nearly four times as much as the 3mln barrel build that analysts had predicted.
Later today the US Energy Department will release its inventory report for the corresponding period and as always the numbers will be closely watched by day traders.
Also over in the States Hess Corporation was the latest oil firm to provide a new foreboding stat for the crisis as it today revealed it was set to report its first annual loss for thirteen years.
Hess which gets nearly a third of its production from US shale reported a US$1.8bn loss for the fourth quarter of 2015 (including US$1.3bn of impairments) and said that 2016's capital budget would be slashed by 40% to US$2.4bn.
'Looking forward our top priority is to continue to keep our balance sheet strong' said chief executive John Hess. 'Our 2016 capital and exploratory budget is 40 percent below our 2015 spend and we will continue to pursue further cost reductions.'
As low prices continue bite into oil businesses Hess told investors it expects lower production through 2016. It forecast between 330000 to 350000 boepd for the current year (in Q4 2015 it managed 368000 boepd).
The lower benchmark price also meant that some 400mln undeveloped barrels have been wiped from Hess's reserves (which now stand at 1.08bn barrels).
With crude stuck near US$30 per barrel there'll be nowhere to hide for oil firms as earnings season continues to go through the gears over the coming weeks.
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