Oil climbs as market seen in balance, but slow demand weighs
time:2016-07-21 18:36 source:admin read:
Oil prices rose following comments from the Saudi energy minister that the market was heading towards balance, although signs of slowing demand in Asia weighed.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were trading at $50.58 per barrel, up $0.23 from their last settlement. US crude CLc1 was up $0.17 at $49.16.
US markets are closed on Monday for the US Independence Day holiday.
The energy minister of Saudi Arabia, the world's top crude exporter, and the secretary general of producer club OPEC agreed that global oil markets were heading towards balance, and that prices reflect this.
However, analysts at Morgan Stanley said there were also signs that prices could fall again soon, pointing at stalling gasoline demand and improving output in Canada and Nigeria.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said last week that output was rising following repairs after attacks in the Niger Delta that had pushed Nigeria's crude output to 30-year lows.
A deal to unify Libya's rival national oil corporations could pave the way for the OPEC member to boost output which currently stands at less than a quarter of pre-2011 levels of 1.6 Mbpd.
Oil demand and as a result prices could come under pressure as weak margins prompt run cuts at a time when refineries in Asia are already gearing up to enter their maintenance season.
"After another counter seasonal summer build, gasoline cracks now trade below diesel, which should force refiners to act ... The end result is likely to be run cuts, with some signs already emerging for 3Q," Morgan Stanley analysts said on Monday.
"Asia refiners have already started to pull back ... and there are reports of cargoes struggling to sell," they added.
Investors are also watching the outlook for US production, with drillers last week adding oil rigs for a fourth week in five, in the best month of producers returning to the well pad since August 2015.
Russian oil output in June rose slightly from the previous month to 10.84 Mbpd.
In Norway, oil workers signed a deal on Saturday, avoiding a strike in western Europe's top oil producer.
Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar; Additional reporting by Osamu Tsukimori and Henning Gloystein