Oil futures settled lower Monday, weighed down by reports of some resumed oil production in Libya, though favorable economic data kept futures from sinking too sharply, analysts said.
NYMEX crude oil futures settled 38 cents lower at $106.56/barrel. September ULSD settled 1.92 cents lower at $3.0522/gal and September RBOB ended the session down 4.41 cents at $2.9506/gal.
ICE September Brent settled 25 cents lower at $108.70/b.
Earlier news that some of Libya’s oil fields had restarted production following protests and strikes by workers weighed on the oil complex, said Gene McGillian, analyst at Tradition Energy.
Libyan officials said the Marsa el Hrega port was operating and oil minister Abdel Bari al-Arousi said there had been a breakthrough further upstream as a number of fields in the west of the country resumed production.
Libya’s oil exports have dropped to just 330,000 b/d, a fraction of average exports of up to 1.4 million b/d before the recent crisis began.
But bullish economic data did provide a floor under the market, keeping futures in tight ranges throughout the session.
US service-sector companies expanded in July at a faster pace than expected. The Institute for Supply Management said its purchasing managers index survey climbed to 56% last month from 52.2% in June. That’s the highest level since February.
Meanwhile, China’s non-manufacturing data came in better-than expected, with HSBC saying Monday that its purchasing managers’ index for the services industry in China was at 51.3 in July, unchanged from June.
A reading above 50 indicates growth. China’s official non-manufacturing PMI, released over the weekend, came in at 54.1 in July, from 53.9 in the previous month.
Source: platts.com
