Oil Prices Edge Higher as Investors Await OPEC Meeting
November 24 2017 - 7:21AM
Dow Jones News
By Neanda Salvaterra
Oil prices edged higher on Friday in muted trade due to the
Thanksgiving holiday, as falls in inventory and disrupted supply to
the U.S. supported prices.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.13% to $63.63 a
barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile
Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading up 0.95% at
$58.56 a barrel.
The price differential between Brent and WTI has narrowed to
about $5 and the U.S. crude grade gained 2% by Friday, "its highest
level since early July 2015", said analysts at Commerzbank in a
recent note.
Futures on the WTO gauge received a boost due to sharp falls in
inventory and the shutdown of TransCanada's Keystone pipeline after
an oil spill last week. The pipeline shutdown means that 500,000
fewer barrels of crude per day are being transported from Canada to
the U.S, according to Commerzbank.
U.S. stocks decreased by 1.9 million barrels to 457.1 million
barrels for the week ended Nov. 17 as refinery activity continued
to pick up steam, according to data released Wednesday by the
Energy Information Administration.
Investors are now in a wait and see mode ahead a meeting of the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that is scheduled
to meet in Vienna next Thursday.
The cartel and external producers such as Russia first agreed a
year ago to reduce global crude output by nearly 2% from peak
October 2016 levels in an effort to rein in a supply glut and boost
prices.
The deal is set to expire in March of 2018, but investors are
hoping for an extension of the deal through next year.
But some analysts say that investors may be disappointed if they
expect OPEC and external producers to announce a complete deal next
week.
"We still think prices will consolidate above $60 even if OPEC
somewhat disappoints the market," said Paul Horsnell, the head of
commodity research at Standard Chartered.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock--the benchmark gasoline
contract--rose 0.74% to $1.78 a gallon. ICE gasoil changed hands at
$567.25 a metric ton, up $2.75 from the previous settlement.
Write to Neanda Salvaterra at neanda.salvaterra@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 24, 2017 07:06 ET (12:06 GMT)
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