Oil Heads for Third Weekly Gain as OPEC Says Market Is Improving

Front-month oil futures were little changed in New York, leaving them 1.3 percent higher this week. It’s critical for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to maintain focus and fully implement their agreed curbs, Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo said Friday. The oil market is well on its way to rebalancing and the pace of the drop in inventories in developed economies has accelerated, Kuwait’s Oil Minister Issam Almarzooq said.

Oil has advanced this month on forecasts for rising crude demand and as U.S. Gulf Coast plants recover from Hurricane Harvey, which halted almost a quarter of the nation’s refining capacity. Nine months into the OPEC-led supply agreement, implementation of the pledged production cuts remains high. Nigeria, which is currently exempt from making cuts, reiterated that it would accept a cap once output stabilizes around 1.8 million barrels a day.

“Today’s meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee is lending buoyancy,” Commerzbank said in a note. “Although no binding promises to extend or expand the agreement can be expected, Nigeria – which like Libya had not signed up to the production cuts – is at least showing a willingness to come on board.”

West Texas Intermediate for November delivery was at $50.50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down 5 cents, at 12:15 p.m. in London. Total volume traded was about 48 percent below the 100-day average. Prices advanced 5.1 percent last week, the biggest weekly gain since July.

Brent for November settlement was at $56.48 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, 5 cents higher. Prices are up 1.6 percent this week. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $5.97 to WTI.
more at:  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-22/oil-heads-for-third-weekly-gain-before-opec-group-meets-on-cuts