As trader await API inventory data tonight, expected to show a ninth weekly increase - the longest streak in a year - concerns grow that Russia may not play nice with OPEC and cut production when they meet next month.

"The name of the game in the oil market is volatility," International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol said at a conference in Oslo.

"And with the increasing pressure of geopolitics on oil markets that we are seeing, we believe that we are entering an unprecedented period of uncertainty."

And sellers are not holding their breath - WTI is down almost 6% today to its lowest since Nov 2017...