Sentiment on oil supply and inventory levels pushed crude oil prices lower in early Wednesday trading amid renewed doubts over extraordinary OPEC action.

Crude oil prices are up nearly 10 percent since mid-August when Saudi Arabia's oil minister suggested support was building for coordinated artificial action to stimulate the market. Oil prices turned sharply lower Tuesday morning, but reversed momentum within minutes of media reports of Iranian support for a meeting of ministers next month in Algeria.

Olivier Jakob, the managing director at Swiss-based energy research group Petromatrix, cast doubt over the Iranian reports, noting oil trading near the $50 mark was not an incentive for action from major producers, who were worse off earlier this year when oil dipped below $30 per barrel but still made no extraordinary move.

"Headlines trigger price action but we find that the story behind the one-liner was not very convincing that anything has changed," he said of the reports on Iran.

Crude oil prices moved sharply lower in early Wednesday trading, negating much of the short-term spike from the previous session. The price for Brent crude oil was down 1 percent to start the day at $49.46 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark price for oil, moved 1.6 percent lower to open in New York at $47.32 per barrel.

Trading house Glencore said declines in U.S. crude oil production, a partial response to falling crude oil prices, balanced against gains from members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and helped narrow the gap between supply and demand. Oversupply, brought on by U.S. oil, was in part behind the fall from $100 per barrel starting in 2014.

"As more frequent supply disruptions occurred, and the much anticipated reduction in U.S. production became more evident, there were signs that the oil market would rebalance at a quicker pace, and this in part, fueled a price recovery which peaked at $52 per barrel towards the end of the second quarter, albeit price reversals since then reflect renewed concerns about excess supply and inventories," the firm said in a statement.

Prices may be influenced later in the morning Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration publishes weekly data on production and inventory levels. S&P Global Platts this week said EIA data may show a decline in gasoline supplies, but additions to crude oil stocks. Traders suggested Wednesday's report may support bearish sentiments for oil.