Crude Oil Falls In Asia With IEA Monthly Report, US Rig Count Ahead

Investing.com – Crude oil prices fell in Asia on Friday with fresh supply/demand and production figures on tap later in the day to set the tone.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for February delivery fell 0.84% to $63.41 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, eased 0.40% to $68.86 a barrel.

The IEA on Friday will detail its monthly supply and demand estimates. Baker Hughes reports US data with last week at 752.

Overnight, prices pared gains heading into settlement as traders weighed a sharp rebound in production against a fall in crude supplies for the ninth week in a row while an unexpected fall in product inventories failed to lift sentiment.

OPEC raised its forecast for oil supply from outside of the cartel in 2018 by 1.15 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, up from 990,000 bpd expected previously, noting higher prices are attracting more exploration and production. “Higher oil prices are bringing more supply to the market, particularly in North America and specifically tight oil,” OPEC said in the monthly report.

OPEC also said inventories in developed economies declined by 16.6 million barrels in November to 2.933 billion barrels, 133 million above the five-year average. The oil market could move into a deficit of about 670,000 bpd in 2018, according to the report, slightly narrower than 700,000 bpd in last month’s report.

OPEC also cut its estimate of global demand for its crude in 2018 by 60,000 bpd to 33.09 million bpd. Elsewhere, OPEC’s crude exports have risen sharply in the first two weeks of 2018 on rising supplies from Iraq and Nigeria, shipping tracker Kpler says.

US crude inventories fell 6.9 million barrels last week, the EIA said with stocks at Cushing down 4.2 million barrels, the largest weekly draw for Cushing dating back to 2004 when records began. Gasoline stocks rose 3.6 million barrels, compared with an expected 3.4 million-barrel build.

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