HAVE YOU HUGGED A FRACKER TODAY? Oil Falls as U.S. Stockpiles Rise and IEA Sees 2018 Supply Surge.

The American Petroleum Institute signaled U.S. crude inventories probably climbed a second week, ahead of data from the Energy Information Administration forecast to show a decline. New supplies from OPEC’s rivals will be more than enough to meet growth in demand next year, the IEA said in a report Wednesday.

Oil is extending its slump below $50 a barrel amid speculation increasing U.S. supplies will counter production curbs by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including non-OPEC member Russia. Output at major American shale fields will reach a record in July, according to the EIA.

“The market tightening intended by OPEC has thus failed to materialize,” Carsten Fritsch, an analyst at Commmerzbank AG in Frankfurt, said in a report. “OPEC will therefore have to cut production further next year to ensure that the oil market is not oversupplied.”

Well. We seem to have drilled our way out of that problem.