OIL FUTURES FALL TO LOWEST LEVEL IN 7 YEARS

On Tuesday Brent futures crashed to $39.8 a barrel and WTI futures fell down to $36.6 a barrel - the weakest levels in seven years. Previous prices at nearly $108 a barrel in June 2014 has finally wiped out in 2015. The Dow dropped 117 points yesterday, with the energy sector its biggest drag. Oil settled at $37.65 a barrel on Monday, the lowest since February 2009.

These moves come after Friday's decision by OPEC not to cut oil output following a contentious six-hour meeting. The oil cartel essentially left production near record highs despite the oversupply problem.

"My head is spinning from the past few days of declines. Sentiment is horrible. It's very bearish," said Mike Wittner, global head of oil research at Societe Generale.

U.S. production remains near record-highs. Goldman Sachs recently predicted U.S. output will shrink by a modest 65,000 barrels per day in 2016 due to declining drilling rig counts.

Сheap oil is a huge problem for energy companies like Exxon Mobil, Halliburton and Chevron, all of which have suffered steep declines in profits and share prices.

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OIL DECLINES THURSDAY AS GLUT PERSISTS

Oil fell on Thursday, after six days of gains, as worries that violence in the Middle East would disrupt supply waned, and the focus returned to a persistent oversupply.

Brent crude was down 1.36% at $45.54 a barrel, while WTI futures lost 0.52% to trade at $42.82.

Earlier this week, oil prices were driven up by concerns that the downing of a Russian jet by Turkey could raise geopolitical tensions that could hit supplies. However, by today, those concerns faded and had done little to remove the view that global production will stay high even as stockpiles rise.

A stronger dollar also weighed on oil as it makes it more expensive for holders of other currencies.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is determined to continue pumping oil to defend market share, alarming some of the cartel's weaker members who fear prices may drop towards $20.

Analysts meanwhile noted that stocks were building all of last year and in 2015 as well. It's starting to strain inventories and storage space is beginning to shrink.

However, while stockpiles are high and are on the rise in the United States and many European economies, in China, commercial crude oil stocks at the end of October were down 4.4% from the previous month in their biggest fall since at least 2010, the official Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.

In November, Brent has lost nearly 8% and is down by 20% this year, after tumbling from above $115 per barrel last year.

U.S. crude had been buoyed on Wednesday by a smaller-than-expected build in U.S. inventories and by a decline in oil rigs, signalling that drillers were awaiting higher prices before returning to the well pad. The data supported WTI futures earlier Thursday.

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CRUDE OIL FUTURES NEAR TWO-WEEK LOWS AHEAD OF INVENTORY REPORT

On Thursday U.S. oil futures edged lower amid concerns weekly supply data to be released later in the day will show U.S. crude inventories rose faster than expected last week.

Nymex oil shed 44 cents, or 0.93%, to trade at $46.21 a barrel during European morning hours.

Yesterday WTI prices dipped 2 cents, or 0.04%.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration is expected to publish its weekly report on oil supplies at 11:00AM Eastern time Thursday. The report comes out one day later than usual because of Monday's Columbus Day holiday in the U.S.

The data is expected to show that crude stockpiles rose by 2.9 million barrels last week, while gasoline stockpiles probably declined by 1.7 million barrels.

After markets' closure on Wednesday, the American Petroleum Institute reported that U.S. crude inventories rose by enormous 9.3 million barrels in the week ended October 9.

Meanwhile, Brent oil for November delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange lost 7 cents, or 0.14%, to trade at $49.62 a barrel.

On Wednesday, Brent futures shed 7 cents, or 0.18%.

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OIL SET TO LOG BIGGEST RALLY SINCE 2009 ON 'DOVISH' FED

On Friday oil futures saw the biggest rally in six years after minutes from the U.S. central bank September meeting suggested the regulator was in no hurry to raise interest rates and an influential forecaster predicted a price rally.

World stocks also rallied Friday, on course for their biggest weekly rise in four years.

Overall relief that the Fed possibly won't hike until some time next year saw investors take on more risk across the board, with commodities in particular regaining ground to chalk up their biggest gains in six years.

Brent crude oil was on track for its biggest weekly rise since March 2009, while zinc soared 9 percent - its biggest daily gain for seven years - after troubled mining giant Glencore said it would cut production.

Meanwhile, Glencore shares themselves surged 13.10%, meaning they were up 41 percent on the week - their biggest weekly gain since being floated in mid-2011 - and doubling from the trough hit just two weeks ago.

The Fed minutes revealed the extent to which policymakers are concerned that a global economic slowdown might threaten the U.S. economic outlook. Though they said overseas turmoil had not "materially altered" economic prospects, they chose to stand pat on the current policy last month.

An unexpectedly weak U.S. jobs report for September last week had led many market participants to bet that the Fed will not deliver its first hike since 2006 until 2016, a feeling that was strengthened by the minutes.

Brent was last up 0.97% on the day at $53.57 a barrel, and U.S. crude was up 1.73% at $50.29 a barrel. Oil also got a boost overnight after forecaster PIRA Energy Group predicted crude prices would rise to $70 per barrel by the end of 2016.

ANZ raised its 2016 forecast for WTI crude by an average of 10 percent, saying it saw a quicker run-down in U.S. crude stocks as a valid reason for the upgrade. It raised its WTI estimate for the third quarter of 2016, for example, to $47 a barrel from $41.

Analysts at Swiss-based consultancy Petromatrix were more wary on further gains on the commodity, Reuters says.

Three-month zinc futures were up 10 percent on the London Metal Exchange at $1,844 a tonne after Glencore said it will cut production by 500,000 tonnes, equivalent to 4 percent of the world's output.

Zinc had fallen 30 percent since May to a five-year low, so the rebound could mark the bottom of the market and the commodities complex in general, some analysts said.

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