Oil drops with producers’ meeting, US data on horizon

London, Sep 20 (AFP) Oil prices dipped today with analystsexpecting volatility in the run-up to a producers’ meetingnext week, while traders are also awaiting the release of USstockpiles data. Around 1130 GMT, Brent North Sea crude for delivery inNovember was down 48 cents at USD 45.46 a barrel compared withtoday’s close. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October shed 35cents to USD 42.95 a barrel. The commodity plunged last week on supply glut worries butbounced slightly Monday after OPEC member Venezuela said adeal to limit output was close. Unrest in key producers Libya and Nigeria also raised theprospect their exports would be hit. Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro said Sunday thatparticipants in producer talks by the 14-nation OPEC carteland Russia in Algeria from September 26-28 are working on adeal. But some analysts said that in the absence of any firmagreement, prices will continue to swing. "The credibility of bullish production freeze rhetoricfrom Venezuela is understandably being questioned in therun-up to next week’s Algiers meeting, while worries aboutadditional supply (Nigeria, Libya) worsening the global glutadd to the mix," noted analysts at traders Accendo Markets. Crude prices have been dogged by a stubborn supply glutsince mid-2014, with prices hitting near 13-year lows inFebruary. A previous Saudi-led attempt to freeze output fell apartin April when Iran, which had just emerged from years ofWestern nuclear-linked sanctions, refused to take part. CMC Markets Singapore analyst Margaret Yang said tradersare also "waiting for this week’s (US) crude inventory data tofind clues of any changes of the supply-demand relationship". The US energy department is due to release the stockpilesfigures tomorrow. "Gains on Monday were wiped out in trading on Tuesday foroil, as many analysts predict a significant increase in USinventories of over two million barrels, which would indicateongoing global oversupplies," said analyst Bill Hodder atbroker Love Energy. "These concerns were backed up by comments from VenezuelanOil Minister Eulogio Del Pino, who suggested that globalproduction would need to be reduced by around 10 percent inorder to fall back in line with consumption." (AFP)ABH