Oil retreated for the fourth consecutive session on Wednesday on forecasts that U.S. crude stocks likely rose again and on signs that OPEC was already boosting oil supply.
U.S. light crude for December delivery fell 40 cents to $84.87 a barrel at 0840 GMT. Oil has fallen more than $5.00 since hitting a record high of $90.07 last week.
London Brent crude eased 27 cents to $82.58.
"Overall the market still looks strong but it may have got ahead of itself a little last week," said Tony Nunan, risk manager for Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo.
"It all depends on U.S. inventories now. In the fourth quarter, we could go up to $105 a barrel or down to $70. All seems possible," he added.
A Reuters poll predicted that U.S. crude and gasoline stocks each rose by 800,000 barrels last week.
Distillate stocks were probably little changed, the poll showed, after rising by 1 million barrels in the week ended October 12, easing concerns of a shortfall in the United States ahead of winter that had fuelled oil's rally in recent months.
"The situation this week is different from last week. The market is already trending lower and people see the risk of more inventories than of less inventories," said Tobin Gorey, a commodities strategist at Australia's Commonwealth Bank.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to increase oil output from November but Petrologistics, a consultancy which tracks tanker movements, said on Tuesday OPEC was already raising oil supply in October in response to record prices.
(Reuters)