Oil Holds Gains On Libyan Disruption As Saudis See Curbs Easing

Singapore: Crude held gains as Libya’s crude exports from a key terminal were disrupted and Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and its allies may ease their output curbs next year without hurting the market.

Futures in New York were little changed after rising 3 per cent the previous two sessions. Libya’s crude loadings from the Mellitah terminal will be “modified” after protests impeded output at the El-Feel field. Global production cuts will be phased out in a way that won’t disturb the market, Saudi oil minister Khalid Al Falih said. Still, US supplies remain a threat, with the nation’s rig count rising for a fifth week to the highest since April 2015.

 Investors are likely looking at Libya for a potential reason for a rally in oil prices, but this shouldn’t last too long.”

 - Barnabas Gan | Economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp 

Oil has risen about 5 per cent this year, following a second annual gain, as a decline in US stockpiles and growing demand help reassure investors that production reductions led by Opec are working. The nations taking part in the supply curbs are studying what a crude re-balancing will entail and will announce their next steps once that’s analyzed, Al Falih said in New Delhi on Saturday. The market is still wary of booming American output.

5 %

oil’s gains this year on falling US stocks and rising demand

“Investors are likely looking at Libya for a potential reason for a rally in oil prices, but this shouldn’t last too long,” said Barnabas Gan, an economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp, said by phone from Singapore. “Global oil fundamentals have been improving ever since Opec and its allies agreed for production cuts, and the demand story is still supporting prices.”

$ 63.63

 price of WTI at 10.08am in Singapore

West Texas Intermediate for April delivery added 8 cents to $63.63 (Dh233.71) a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange as of 10.08am in Singapore. Prices on Friday rose 78 cents, or 1.2 per cent, to settle at $63.55, the highest in more than two weeks. Total volume traded was about 29 per cent below the 100-day average.

Brent for April settlement fell 2 cents to $67.29 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The contract on Friday climbed 92 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to settle at $67.31. The global benchmark crude traded at a $3.67 premium to WTI.