Oil Hovers Below 2-Year Highs With Focus On US Output
NEW YORK, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Oil prices were mixed on Friday, lingering below two-year highs as the continuing outage of a North Sea pipeline gave support, while climbing U.S. output and weak gasoline demand kept a lid on gains.
Brent crude futures settled down 8 cents or 0.1 percent to $63.23 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled up 26 cents to $57.30 a barrel. WTI hit a two-year high of $59.05 on Nov. 24.
Brent ended the week down slightly with a 0.3 percent fall, while WTI was down 0.1 percent.
"There's definitely some pressure on crude," said John Kilduff, partner at energy hedge fund Again Capital LLC in New York. "Demand for gasoline is lower which isn't normally the case in the holiday season and supplies are steadily rising. It's something to watch."
Gasoline futures were down 3.5 percent on the week.
Hedge funds and other money managers pared their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions in the week to Dec. 12, cutting the holdings for a second week after hitting a record high, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said on Friday.
The speculator group cut its combined futures and options position in New York and London by 7,542 contracts to 435,200 during the period. The cut was the second in a row.
The ongoing outage of the Forties pipeline, which carries North Sea oil to Britain, was a price support for Brent early in the session before the grade fell slightly, traders said.
The outage's main physical impact is the North Sea region, but it has global relevance as the crude is used to underpin the Brent price benchmark. Operator INEOS declared force majeure on Forties, the first such declaration in decades.
Force majeure is a legal designation that suspends a firm's contractual obligations due to situations beyond its control.
Still, U.S. oil production <C-OUT-T-EIA>, which has soared 16 percent since mid-2016 to 9.78 million barrels per day (bpd), has undermined OPEC's output curbs.
U.S. supply, now close to matching levels of top producers Russia and Saudi Arabia, will likely move oil markets into a supply surplus in the first half of 2018, the International Energy Agency said.
The number of oil drilling rigs fell by four to 747 this week, data from General Electric's Baker Hughes energy services unit showed, the first cut to drilling numbers in six weeks.
The U.S. rig count, an early indicator of future output, is still much higher than a year ago when only 510 rigs were active.
12
View Full Article
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.
- Weatherford CEO's Rebound Plan Relies On Getting Smaller
- Iran Says Oil Market Is Too Tight For US Zero Exports Target
- China's Squeezed 'Teapots' Eye Petchem Path To Riches
- Baker Hughes: US Drillers Add Oil Rigs For Second Week In Three
- Venezuela Hands China More Oil Presence, But No Mention Of New Funds
- ExxonMobil Racks Up Discoveries in Guyana Block Eyed by Chevron
- Oil Market Sentiment Has Improved Significantly
- EU, US Eye Collaboration on Nuclear Materials
- USA Driving Activity to Increase to All-Time Highs
- TC Energy to Sell Prince Rupert Gas Pipeline Project to First Nation
- EU Electricity Export to Ukraine Up 94 Percent in Two Years
- China Coal Output Falls for First Time since Government Ordered More
- BP Pulse Buys One of Europe's Largest Truck Stops
- UK CCUS Plans Outdated: Think Tank
- North America Enters Rig Loss Streak
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- EIA Drops 2024 Henry Hub Gas Price Forecast
- EIA and Standard Chartered Offer Up Latest Oil Price Predictions
- Red Sea Region Sees Another Watershed Incident
- Chevron Oil Project in Kazakhstan to Cost $48.5B
- OPEC Voices Encouragement after IEA Affirms Support for Oil Security
- Biden Govt Bares Strategy for Freight Charging, Hydrogen Fueling Infra
- Ukraine Hits Third Russian Refinery In Escalating Drone Strikes
- Rystad Looks at the Buzz Around White Hydrogen
- VIDEO: Missile Attack Kills Crew Transiting Gulf of Aden
- Norway Regulator Blasts Proposal to Halt New Oil and Gas Permits
- Chinese Mega Company Makes Major Oilfield Discovery
- What Is the Biggest Risk to Offshore Oil and Gas Personnel in 2024?
- Is Peak Oil Demand Close?
- Vessel Sinks in Red Sea After Missile Strike
- JP Morgan, Standard Chartered Reveal Latest Oil Price Forecasts
- Exxon Rights in Stabroek Do Not Apply to Hess Merger with Chevron: Hess
- Rystad Forecasts Net Production of Top Permian Producers in 2024
- Analysts Reveal Latest Oil Price Outlook Following OPEC+ Cut Extension