Brent hovers near 27-month low as abundant supply weighs

Brent crude futures hovered near $94 a barrel on Thursday and were close to their lowest level in more than two years, reflecting sustained pressure from plentiful global supply and weak demand conditions in Europe and China.

Brent fell the most since 2012 in the past quarter and could struggle to recover amid an oversupplied market that has kept prices below $100 for more than three weeks now.

While a mending US economy bodes well for a potential rebound in oil prices in the last quarter of the year, sluggish economic signals elsewhere may limit gains.

"Ultimately weak demand conditions in Europe and China mean that aggressive gains are going to be hard to come by," said Ankit Pahuja, commodity strategist at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ).

Investors are eyeing the outcome of the European Central Bank's meeting later in the day, in particular wanting to see the details of a new asset-buying plan to revive the flagging eurozone economy.

Data on Wednesday showed China's manufacturing sector held up in September but remained subdued.

Brent oil for November delivery was off 8 cents at $94.08 a barrel by 0623 GMT. The contract fell as low as $93.78 on Wednesday, its weakest since June 2012.

US November crude eased 4 cents to $90.69 per barrel, within striking distance of 16-month lows touched in early September.

SAUDI CHALLENGE

With oil prices continuing to slide, the pressure is building up on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to reduce output during its meeting next month.

While analysts expect OPEC to adjust the group's output target of 30 million barrels per day (bpd) for early 2015, the actual cut may not be big enough to spur a spike in oil prices.

OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri said last month he expected the group's production to drop to around 29.5 million bpd in 2015.

"We think there will be some reduction from OPEC but whether it's as aggressive as some have forecast in the market is still a bit of a question mark," said ANZ's Pahuja.

"The challenge is going to be whether Saudi Arabia wants to give up market share to returning supply from Iran and Libya."

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday announced a bigger-than-expected cut in its official oil sales price to Asia in November, the clearest sign yet that the world's top exporter is trying to compete for crude market share and keep oil markets well supplied.

National Australia Bank has cut its average Brent price forecast for 2015 to $103 from $105, saying weaker economic conditions in China, Japan and much of Europe have pushed demand expectations lower despite some optimism in the United States, the UK and India.

"Market expectations of oil prices have fallen sharply since June as ample supply and weak demand continue to outweigh concerns over geopolitical tensions in the Middle East," NAB analysts said in a note.

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