Crude gains in Asia with weekly U.S. rig count the next data point
Crude costs gained in Asia on Friday with the market trying ahead to U.S. rig count figures.
On the ny Mercantile Exchange crude futures for August delivery rose zero.23% to $42.84 a barrel, while on London’s Intercontinental Exchange, Brent gained 0.18% to $45.30 a barrel.
The number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. has increased for 22 straight weeks with the latest figures due on Friday from oilfield services firm Baker Hughes with investors waiting to see if recent price drops in crude are causing a re-think on drilling plans.
Tropical storm Cindy made landfall on Thursday near Lake Charles, Louisiana, after it disrupted some operations in the Gulf of Mexico, home to about 17% of U.S. crude and 5% of dry natural gas output. The storm is now on the wane.
Overnight, crude futures settled higher on Thursday, paring some of the losses sustained in recent sessions but sentiment remained bearish as investors continue to fret about rising global stockpiles.
Crude futures snapped a three-day losing streak, despite a growing number of analysts scaling back their forecast for crude prices over the near-term amid fears that the glut in crude stockpiles would persist.
The move higher in crude futures comes a day after the Energy Information Administration said that crude stockpiles fell by roughly 2.45m barrels in the week ended June 16, above expectations of draw of about 2.1m barrels.
Despite the draw in U.S. crude stockpiles, rising shale output remains a principal concern among investors – The U.S. Department of Energy recently estimated that supply will grow by 122,000 barrels a day.
Since the flip of the year oil costs have unerect over two hundredth, reflective negative capitalist sentiment on oil, as doubts continued to mount on whether or not world organization and its allies will tackle the glut in provide.
In May, world organization and non-OPEC members united to increase production cuts for a amount of 9 months till March, however stuck to production cuts of one.8 million bpd united in Nov last year.