Oil Higher on Weather Related Supply Disruptions

Oil prices edged higher on Friday and were on track for a weekly gain as U.S. oil producers in the Gulf of Mexico cut more than half their output because of a tropical storm and as tensions continued to simmer in the Middle East.

However, an International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast for a global oil surplus capped the gains. The agency on Friday predicted that surging U.S. oil output will outpace sluggish global demand and lead to a large stocks build around the world in the next nine months.


West Texas Intermediate graph

OPEC also predicted on Thursday the return of a surplus next year despite an OPEC-led pact to restrain supplies.

Brent crude futures were up 36 cents at $66.88 a barrel by 1315 GMT after hitting a session high of $67.29.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 6 cents at $60.26 after touching a high of $60.74.

Brent prices have climbed 4.1% this week while WTI has gained 4.9%. Both registered declines last week.

via Reuters

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza