(Bloomberg) -- Oil traded below $69 a barrel as investors tried to gauge demand growth in the world’s biggest economy following conflicting data on U.S. stockpiles.

Futures in New York were little changed Thursday after rebounding 1 percent in the previous session from a 1.5 percent drop. Prices have been wavering after government data showed a surprise gain in nationwide crude inventories, while gasoline held in U.S. storage tanks dropped by the most since May on the back of robust fuel demand. Meanwhile, an OPEC committee meeting provided little insight on how output quotas will be split between the group.

Oil has lost about 7 percent this month over concern an escalating trade conflict between the U.S. and China could jeopardize global economic growth and energy demand. While worries remain over potential supply losses in Venezuela and Iran as well as sporadic disruptions in Libya, investors are waiting to see how an agreement reached last month by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allied producers to raise output will impact global oil supplies.

“Refinery utilization rates in the U.S. have been kept at almost full capacity and it will gradually fall with planned maintenance, which will lead to a build-up in overall crude stockpiles, while gasoline and distillate inventories shrink,” Lim Jaekyun, a commodities analyst at KB Securities Co., said by phone in Seoul. “OPEC has been seen raising output since June and this will slowly resolve risks we see on the supply side.”

Prices Swing

West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery, which expires Friday, traded at $68.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, up 10 cents, at 12:26 p.m. in Tokyo. The contract added 68 cents to $68.76 on Wednesday. Total volume traded was about 56 percent below the 100-day average. The more-active September contract was little changed at $67.76 a barrel.

Brent for September settlement traded at $72.84 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, down 6 cents. Prices rose 74 cents on Wednesday to close at $72.90. The global benchmark traded at a $5.07 premium to WTI for the same month. The Brent market continues to show signs of weakness, with front-month futures trading at a discount to its second-month contract.

Futures for September delivery gained 0.9 percent to 485.7 yuan a barrel on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange, after gaining 0.5 percent on Wednesday.

See also: Libya Kidnap Shows Oil-Supply Growth at Risk From Insecurity

The Energy Information Administration reported U.S. crude inventories rose by 5.84 million barrels last week, confounding most analysts in a Bloomberg survey who were forecasting a decline. Along with falling refinery utilization rates, shrinking crude exports, which had dropped last week to the lowest level since April, also contributed to the inventory build.

While Saudi Arabia and Russia pledged last month that OPEC would soon decide how to distribute a collective output boost of about 1 million barrels a day, the committee didn’t give a recommendation on how they should share out the planned increase during its meeting on Wednesday.

OPEC’s committee said in a statement later that compliance was 121 percent in June, and that it was satisfied that overall performance “will not deviate from the 100 percent conformity” targeted in the deal reached June 23. Saudi Arabia, the group’s de facto leader and the biggest producer, said its output would be slightly higher this month than in June, according to people familiar with the matter.

Oil-market news:

  • OPEC is consulting with lawyers to prepare a strategy to defend against proposed U.S. legislation that could open the cartel up to antitrust lawsuits, according to people familiar with the matter.
  • The EIA also said America’s domestic oil production climbed to 11 million barrels a day last week, the highest level in the weekly data compiled since 1983.

--With assistance from Tsuyoshi Inajima.

To contact the reporter on this story: Heesu Lee in Seoul at hlee425@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Pratish Narayanan at pnarayanan9@bloomberg.net, Anna Kitanaka, Ovais Subhani

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