Oil halts slide as signs of stockpile drop counter Opec doubts

Oil halted a slide near $54 a barrel as investors weighed industry data that showed US crude inventories unexpectedly fell last week against doubts over Opec’s plans to cut output. Futures in New York rose as much as 2%, after plunging more than 6% on Tuesday. The American Petroleum Institute was said to report a 1.55-million-barrel drop in stockpiles last week, compared with a gain forecast in a Bloomberg survey before official data. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said Saudi Arabia has been “very responsive” to his requests to keep prices low, calling into question Opec’s resolve to trim supply.