New York — The energy industry scrutinises US oil stockpile data every week for evidence that oil cartel Opec supply cuts are ending a global crude glut, but growing domestic output means the world’s largest oil consumer may be the last place to feel the cuts. Stubbornly high US inventory levels have shaken market confidence that a deal by Opec, Russia and other top producers to cut 1.8-million barrels a day from supply will end the two-year glut. This week, benchmark Brent crude prices slipped below $50 a barrel. Brent has given up all the gains made since the supply cuts were agreed late last year. US inventories are a trusted barometer for the health of global oil markets because of the transparency of the data and their location in the country that consumes around a fifth of the world’s oil. But US crude inventories have only grown since the supply cuts took effect. The initial spike in oil prices after the deal reinforced already resurgent production from the US shale industry....
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