Oil drops as volatile markets, supply surge unsettle investors

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices slipped on Thursday amid volatile currency and stock markets, and as analysts warned of an economic slowdown for 2019 just as crude supplies are rising globally.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures dropped by 1.7 percent, or 79 cents, from their last settlement to $45.75 by 0453 GMT.

International Brent crude futures were down 0.8 percent, or 46 cents, at $54.45 a barrel.

In physical oil markets, top exporter Saudi Arabia is expected to cut February prices for heavier crude grades sold to Asia by up to 50 cents a barrel due to weaker fuel oil margins, respondents to a Reuters survey said on Thursday.

Markets were roiled by a more than 3 percent slump of the US dollar against the Japanese yen overnight, and after tech giant Apple cut its sales forecast.

"We did not foresee the magnitude of the economic deceleration, particularly in Greater China," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said.

The slowdown in China and turmoil in stock and currency markets is making investors nervous, including in oil markets.

More fundamentally, oil markets have come under pressure from a surge in supply just as demand growth is expected to slow amid the market turmoil.

US crude production stood at a record 11.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in late 2018, making America the world's biggest oil producer.

Others are not sitting idle, with Russian output reaching a record of more than 11 million bpd in 2018.

Supply from Iraq, the number two producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is also up, with December exports at 3.73 million bpd, up from 3.37 million bpd in November.