Oil slips below $107 as supply improves
London - Brent crude oil fell below 107 dollars a barrel on Friday in a third day of falls on concerns over increasing supply and faltering demand despite signs of faster economic growth in China.
Worries that the escalating war in Syria could disrupt Middle East oil supplies pushed Brent to a six-month high above 117 dollars in August.
Prices have dropped more than 10 dollars a barrel since then and some analysts see further falls ahead.
U.S. light crude oil has been depressed by a seasonal dip in demand and increasing domestic oil production that has boosted stockpiles, particularly in the U.S. Gulf coast.
Brent crude for December was down 20 cents a barrel to 106.79 dollars by 0845 GMT, down three per cent on the week.
U.S. crude oil was up 20 cents at 97.31 dollars, although still down around 3.5 per cent on the week, its biggest weekly loss since June.
"We are seeing some consolidation after several days of falls.
"But the fact that prices have not bounced back is quite bearish.
"The risks are still to the downside," said Commerzbank senior oil and commodities analyst Carsten Fritsch in Frankfurt.
Oil supplies have improved in recent weeks with higher output from several producers in the Middle East and North Africa and several analysts see oil heading lower.
"Balances are not as tight as we or the market had expected," said Virendra Chauhan, oil analyst at London-based consultancy Energy Aspects.
"The worst of this year’s supply shortfalls is now behind us, with maintenance at non-OPEC fields largely complete and some of the lost OPEC production also coming back in Libya, Nigeria and Iraq," Chauhan added.
Worries that the escalating war in Syria could disrupt Middle East oil supplies pushed Brent to a six-month high above 117 dollars in August.
Prices have dropped more than 10 dollars a barrel since then and some analysts see further falls ahead.
U.S. light crude oil has been depressed by a seasonal dip in demand and increasing domestic oil production that has boosted stockpiles, particularly in the U.S. Gulf coast.
Brent crude for December was down 20 cents a barrel to 106.79 dollars by 0845 GMT, down three per cent on the week.
U.S. crude oil was up 20 cents at 97.31 dollars, although still down around 3.5 per cent on the week, its biggest weekly loss since June.
"We are seeing some consolidation after several days of falls.
"But the fact that prices have not bounced back is quite bearish.
"The risks are still to the downside," said Commerzbank senior oil and commodities analyst Carsten Fritsch in Frankfurt.
Oil supplies have improved in recent weeks with higher output from several producers in the Middle East and North Africa and several analysts see oil heading lower.
"Balances are not as tight as we or the market had expected," said Virendra Chauhan, oil analyst at London-based consultancy Energy Aspects.
"The worst of this year’s supply shortfalls is now behind us, with maintenance at non-OPEC fields largely complete and some of the lost OPEC production also coming back in Libya, Nigeria and Iraq," Chauhan added.
LaNUBlog.COM
Comments