TOKYO (Reuters) – Oil futures traded slightly higher on Friday in thin early Asian trade, after setting multi-month lows in the previous session, as investors await indications on how prolonged the current period of oversupply will be.
Both of the main oil benchmarks are heading for nearly 5 percent declines this week and are on the longest losing streak since the turn of the year.
U.S. crude (CLc1) was 10 cent higher at $ 44.76 at 0106 GMT after dropping more than 1 percent on Thursday when it fell to a 4-1/2 month low.
The contract is heading for a sixth week of declines, the most number of weeks it has fallen in a row since dropping for seven weeks between November and January. It is down 5 percent this week, the biggest weekly decline in two weeks.
Brent (LCOc1), the global oil benchmark, was trading 12 cents higher at 49.64, after reaching a six-month in the previous session.
The contract is down about 4.8 percent this week, the biggest weekly fall since March. It is also heading for a sixth week of declines, the longest losing streak since the turn of the year when the market was in freefall.
Crude futures are a few dollars away from breaking 2015 lows. Brent’s bottom for the year was $ 45.19 in January while U.S. crude fell to as low as $ 42.03 in March.
(Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by Michael Perry)
