(RTTNews) - Crude oil prices were little-changed in early trading as inventors awaited the weekly inventory report from the Energy Information Administration. Light sweet crude fell a penny to $46.95 in the opening minutes of trading.
The EIA report is due at 10:35 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Experts are calling for an increase of about 1.2 million barrels for the week ended Nov. 28, which would be the 10th consecutive build. Last week's data revealed crude oil inventories increased 7.3 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 21. Gasoline inventories increased by 1.9 million barrels last week.
Oil touched as low as $46.42 in electronic trading, its lowest mark since May 2005. With demand concerns continuing to linger, crude is down more than $100 and 68% from the record $147.27 it touched on July 11.
Earlier this week, OPEC ministers decided not to cut output following a meeting over the weekend in Egypt. A cut is likely at the Ordinary Meeting on Dec. 17 in Oran, Algeria. However, recent reductions in production have been unable to slow the decline in oil prices.
Natural gas prices dropped 8.6 cents to $6.338 per million British thermal units on Wednesday. The EIA will release its natural gas inventory data on Thursday.
Gasoline prices dropped to $1.80 per regular unleaded gallon across the U.S., according to AAA. This is down from $2.415 a month ago and $3.052 a year ago.
On the economic front, economic data showed that the pace of productivity growth in the third quarter was revised up to 1.3 percent from the preliminary reading of 1.1 percent growth, although it still reflects a slowdown compared to the 3.6 percent growth that was seen in the second quarter.
A separate U.S. report showed non-farm private employment fell by 250,000 jobs in November following a revised decrease of 179,000 jobs in October.
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