Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate continue to slump today for a third consecutive day with Crude trading below USD45 a barrel amid speculations on increasing U.S. stockpiles. Prices are trading near 6-year lows as Goldman Sachs and Societe Generale cut its short-term outlook for oil prices yesterday as the OPEC still resists to cut output and global demand is weakening. Today OPEC officials re-affirmed that the organization is going to fight for market share, blaming the U.S. shale drillers of oversupplying the market. Mohammed al-Mazroui statet that the "strategy will not change" at a Gulf energy conference in Abu Dhabi and that high-cost producers should be the first to cut production.

Market participants look ahead to the U.S. API Crude Oil Inventories due at 21:30 GMT to get further information on the strength of demand of the world's largest consumer of oil.

Brent Crude lost -3.67%, currently trading at USD45.69 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate declined by -3.32% currently quoted at USD44.54 adding to this week's massive sell-off.