New York, US (BBN) – Oil prices went up yesterday amidst speculation that the move may be stunted by United States production outlook.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures traded at $53.33 a barrel, up 17 cents, or 0.3 per cent, in the Globex electronic session, reports Vanguard.com.
They earlier traded down to $52.84.
Benchmark Brent crude on London’s ICE Futures exchange rose 3 cents, or less than 0.1 per cent, to $55.54 a barrel.
It earlier traded down to $55.10 a barrel.
“The rise in US output should not be unexpected, however, we expect the reductions being made by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, will far exceed any rise in the US and quickly reduce the global inventory that has been built up over the past two years,” ANZ Bank said in a report.
Leading contracts had started the electronic trading session lower, extending a slide from the end of last week. “Crude oil is stuck in a range.
Even the triggers for moving crude prices are benign,” says Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, director of Commtrendz Risk Management.
Crude oil prices have been see-sawing between gains and losses in recent weeks.
Oil-market action has largely been driven by OPEC and its recent decision with its allies to cut a collective 2 per cent of global crude supply, a move aimed at balancing the market following more than two years of low prices and excess inventories.
“The rebalancing in the market will certainly happen, but with supplies increasing in the US, prices will move in a tight range,” said Thiagarajan, adding that prices may move with a “bullish bias” through 2017 because of the OPEC pact on trimming output.
BBN/SK/ANS