US Crude Oil Gains In Asia With Monthly Supply/Demand Reports Eyed

Investing.com – US prices edged higher on Monday in early Asia with a pair of monthly reports this week expected to set the tone.

Later on Monday, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Counties will publish its monthly assessment of oil markets and on Tuesday, the International Energy Agency will release its monthly estimates.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for March delivery rose 0.35% to $59.14 a barrel. April ICE futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the US, were last quoted at $62.62.

Last week, oil prices finished lower for a sixth straight session on Friday to tally their worst weekly loss in two years, as investors continued to fret over soaring U.S. output levels.

The number of oil drilling rigs jumped by 26 to 791 last week, General Electric (NYSE:NYSE:)’s Baker Hughes energy services firm said in its closely followed report on Friday.

That marked a third straight week of increases and the largest weekly rise in more than a year, implying that further gains in domestic production are ahead.

That came after data on Wednesday showed U.S. oil production, driven by shale extraction, rose to an all-time high of 10.25 million barrels per day (bpd). That figure is above that of top exporter Saudi Arabia and within reach of Russia’s output levels.

That added to fears that rising U.S. output would dampen OPEC’s efforts to rid the market of excess supplies.

The producer group, along with some non-OPEC members led by Russia, agreed in December to extend oil output cuts until the end of 2018.

The deal to cut oil output by 1.8 million bpd was adopted last winter by OPEC, Russia and nine other global producers. The agreement was due to end in March 2018, having already been extended once.

Disclaimer: Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. All CFDs (stocks, indexes, futures) and Forex prices are not provided by exchanges but rather by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual market price, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Therefore Fusion Media doesn`t bear any responsibility for any trading losses you might incur as a result of using this data.

Fusion Media or anyone involved with Fusion Media will not accept any liability for loss or damage as a result of reliance on the information including data, quotes, charts and buy/sell signals contained within this website. Please be fully informed regarding the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, it is one of the riskiest investment forms possible.