Crude Oil Prices – Weekly Outlook: January 8 – 12

Investing.com – Oil prices fell on Friday after closing at fresh three-year highs on Thursday as fears over rising U.S. production undermined a rally driven by tightening supplies and geopolitical tensions.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for February delivery fell by 45 cents, or around 0.73%, to end at $61.56 a barrel. WTI hit a high of $62.21 the previous day, which was its strongest since May 2015.

futures, the benchmark for oil prices outside the U.S., lost 35 cents or 0.51% to settle at $67.72 a barrel by close of trade. Brent hit a high of $68.27 on Thursday, also the strongest level since May 2015.

Oil prices came under pressure amid ongoing fears of rising U.S. production, which remained near record levels, despite data showing the number of U.S. oil rigs fell by the most since November.

The number of oil rigs operating in the U.S. fell by five to 742, according to data from energy services firm Baker Hughes.

U.S. production jumped by 28,000 barrels a day to nearly 9.8 million barrels a day, the Energy Information Administration reported on Thursday, sparking fears that US crude production could rise above 10 million bpd.

Oil prices have been boosted by production cuts led by OPEC and by Russia, which started in January last year and are set to last through 2018. Strong compliance with the output cut deal together with robust global demand has helped spur an oil market rally since the middle of 2017.

On Thursday, the EIA reported that U.S. crude stockpiles fell by barrels to 424.46 million barrels. That is down 20% from their historic highs last March.

Antigovernment also helped support oil prices over the past week, amid fears over possible supply disruptions.

In other energy trading, lost 1.02% to end at $1.7891 a gallon on Friday, while was down 0.71% to $2.0622 a gallon.

Meanwhile, fell 3.23% to $2.787 per million British thermal units in late trade.

In the week ahead, market participants will eye fresh weekly information on U.S. stockpiles of crude and refined products on Tuesday and Wednesday to gauge the strength of demand in the world’s largest oil consumer.

Ahead of the coming week, Investing.com has compiled a list of these and other significant events likely to affect the markets.

Tuesday

The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, is to publish its weekly report on U.S. oil supplies.

Wednesday

The U.S. Energy Information Administration is to release weekly data on oil and gasoline stockpiles.

Thursday

The U.S. government will publish a weekly report on natural gas supplies in storage.

Friday

Baker Hughes will release weekly data on the U.S. oil rig count.

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.