American oil will "bury " OPEC+ deal

Oil retreated near $52 a barrel as investors assessed surging U.S. production against output curbs pledged by some of the world’s top suppliers. Futures lost as much as 1 percent in New York, trimming gains of 3.6 percent over the past two sessions. American crude output jumped to a record last week, countering signs of shrinking supplies from the OPEC+ coalition. Saudi Arabia reduced shipments to U.S. refiners by a third last week, while Russia’s deputy energy minister said the country will meet its target for curbing production by April.

West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery lost as much as 51 cents to $51.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and was at $51.99 at 1:01 p.m. in Seoul. Futures settled 20 cents higher at $52.31 on Wednesday, extending its advance for a second day. Brent for March settlement fell 32 cents to $61 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, after closing 68 cents higher on Wednesday. The global benchmark crude was at an $8.73 premium to WTI for the same month.

In America, crude production rose 200,000 barrels last week to 11.9 million barrels a day, the highest level in weekly figures since 1983 compiled by the Energy Information Administration. In Saudi Arabia, the kingdom has slashed its crude shipments to refiners in the U.S. by 32 percent to 684,000 barrels a day for the week that ended on Jan. 11, after exporting more than 1 million barrels a day in the previous week, according to the preliminary data from the EIA. Russia’s Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin also reaffirmed the country’s willingness to cooperate with the rest of the OPEC+ coalition.