Crude oil futures dropped yesterday after official inventory reports indicated a larger-than-expected build in US oil stocks.

Crude inventories in the US rose by 5.3 million barrels in the week to November 11, compared with expectations for an increase of 1.5 million barrels.

The climb in inventories was mainly due to higher imports that averaged 910,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to data released by the US Energy Information Administration on Wednesday.

US benchmark WTI crude was down 25 cents, or 0.5 per cent, at $45.34 a barrel at 0750 GMT. European ICE Brent crude futures fell 26 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $46.37 per barrel.

“Crude oil struggled to keep its head above water after the weekly EIA showed another large rise in inventories ... Stocks of crude oil jumped 5.27 million barrels, much more than expected,” Australian bank ANZ said.

Refining margins in all five US regional petroleum districts fell in the week ended November 11, Credit Suisse said in a weekly report.

“The US EIA produced a higher-than-expected crude inventory figure, but this was subsumed into Opec gossip,” said OANDA senior market analyst Jeffrey Halley. “We are well into headline trading season as November 30 approaches.”

Opec countries are ready to reach a “forceful” agreement on cutting oil output, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday, following a meeting with Opec secretary-general Mohammed Barkindo in Caracas. Opec members are due to meet on November 30.

Russia has also expressed willingness to support an Opec decision to freeze oil output, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday, adding he might meet Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih at a gas conference in Doha this week.

Despite renewed optimism that an Opec output freeze is on track, rising oil production data and changing fundamentals “makes a credible Opec cut all the more difficult to achieve”, American investment bank Jefferies said yesterday.