New York: Oil fell for a fourth day, set for the longest run of declines since July as rising US crude stockpiles bolstered speculation a global surplus will persist.

Futures dropped as much as 1.3 per cent in New York. Inventories expanded by 9.3 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 9, the industry-funded American Petroleum Institute was said to have reported. Stockpiles in the world’s biggest consumer, 100 million barrels above the five-year seasonal average level, are forecast to have increased for a third week, a Bloomberg survey showed before government data Thursday.

Oil has retreated on signs the market remains oversupplied after advancing last week above $50 a barrel for the first time since July. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, responsible for about 40 per cent of the world’s supply, continues to pump above its target while other producers Mexico and Russia said they won’t cut output.

“Supplies from low-cost players like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Russia are all surprising on the upside and non-OPEC production outside of the US. — Norway, Brazil — too has been on the upside,” Jeffrey Currie, head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “The market is substantially more oversupplied than we initially thought.”

West Texas Intermediate for November delivery slid as much as 61 cents to $46.03 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $46.07 at 9:21am. London time. The contract dropped 2 cents to $46.64 on Wednesday, the lowest close since Oct. 5. The volume of all futures traded was 45 per cent above the 100-day average. Prices have decreased 13 per cent this year.

US. Supplies

Brent for November settlement, which expires Thursday, was 14 cents, or 0.3 per cent lower at $49.01 a barrel on the London- based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The more-active December contract was down 18 cents at $49.51. The front-month European benchmark crude was at a premium of $2.92 to WTI.

Crude inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI futures and the largest US oil-storage hub, climbed by 1.4 million barrels last week, the API in Washington reported Wednesday, according to Twitter postings and a person familiar with the figures.

Mexican Output

Crude stockpiles nationwide probably gained by 2.58 million barrels, based on the median estimate in the Bloomberg survey of 10 analysts before the US. Energy Information Administration data. Refiners are projected to have reduced run rates by 0.6 percentage points to 86.9 per cent of capacity. That would be the lowest rate since February, data from the Energy Department’s statistical arm showed.

Mexico plans to attend an OPEC technical meeting on Oct. 21 to exchange information, according to Energy Minister Pedro Joaquin Coldwell. It’s “not in a position to cut production,” he said Wednesday. Output in Norway will probably rise this year, according to the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, which had previously predicted a decline in production.

Russia reiterated its aim to maintain supplies and market share. Output reductions are “purely a short-term measure, and in the future it will result in a greater mis-balance of the oil market,” Energy Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with CNBC.

“The sustainability of any rally has to come on the back of significant production cuts,” David Lennox, an analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney, said by phone. “It’s easier to reduce output than to try and stimulate demand.”