London — Oil eased on Tuesday, paring earlier gains, as doubts about Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) ability to reduce global crude inventories put the price on track for its six fall in seven days. Brent crude was down 3c at $51.57 a barrel by 2.11pm GMT, down from a session high at $51.92, while US crude futures were down 13cat $49.10 a barrel. Brent has fallen by almost 10% since late 2016, despite efforts led by Opec’s and Russia to cut output by 1.8-million barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of 2017. With oil supplies still around record highs, Stephen Schork of the Schork report said on Tuesday that "Opec has failed miserably in its endeavour to balance the oil market". JPMorgan said in a market note "it is evident that ... crude markets are still struggling to clear (oversupply)". The bank said it was closing its "August Brent long position at a loss." To reduce the supply overhang, JPMorgan said Opec "will be forced to renew, and possibly deepen...
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