U.S. energy firms this week maintained the number of oil and natural gas rigs with oil prices on track to fall for a sixth week in a row. The U.S. oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, held at 569 in the week to Dec. 3, keeping at its highest since April 2020, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co (BKR) said in its closely followed report on Friday.
Crude prices ended little changed on Friday after erasing earlier big gains on growing worries that rising coronavirus cases and a new variant could reduce global oil demand. Earlier in the day, oil prices climbed more than $2 a barrel after producer group OPEC+ said it could review its policy to hike output at short notice if a rising number of pandemic lockdowns chokes off demand.
OPEC and its allies agreed on Thursday to stick to their existing policy of monthly oil output increases despite fears that a U.S. release from crude reserves and the new Omicron coronavirus variant would lead to a fresh oil price rout. Benchmark Brent crude fell more than $1 after the deal was reported, before recovering some ground to trade around $68 a barrel.
-Oil prices settled more than 1% higher on Thursday, after a see-saw session that saw benchmarks swing in a $5 range after OPEC+ surprised markets by sticking to its plans to boost output slowly.
* Oil prices have tumbled from October's three-year highs. * Omicron, U.S. reserve release to guide OPEC's decision. * Washington put pressure on OPEC to pump more. By Ahmad Ghaddar, Alex Lawler and Olesya Astakhova.
Fujairah Oil Industry Zone on Wednesday published the following
weekly inventory data for oil products for the week ended Nov. 29, according to industry
information service S&P Global Platts.
-Crude oil futures settled lower on Wednesday, as an early rally fizzled and selling intensified on worries the Omicron variant of coronavirus could cut oil demand as global supply builds. Late in the session, oil prices dropped into negative territory after U.S. officials said the Omicron variant - believed more transmissible than previous strains of coronavirus - had been found in the country.
OPEC and its allies will decide on Thursday whether to release more oil into the market or restrain supply amid big gyrations in crude prices, a U.S. release from oil reserves and fears about the new Omicron coronavirus variant. Oil prices tumbled to near $70 a barrel on Tuesday, down from three-year highs above $86 in October. Benchmark Brent was trading around $72 on Wednesday.
U.S. crude oil production fell 3.5% in September after Hurricane Ida temporarily halted most crude production in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico, according to a monthly report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Tuesday. Crude output dropped 380,000 barrels per day to 10.809 mln bpd from a revised 11.189 mln bpd in August, the report said.
* Moderna CEO says vaccines likely less effective against Omicron. * Fed likely to discuss faster bond-buying taper at next meeting. * Benchmark oil contracts' backwardation shrinks markedly. * U.S. crude stockpiles seen falling 1.2 mln bbls last week -poll. * Coming Up: Weekly API stockpile data at 4:30 p.m. ET/2130 GMT. By Stephanie Kelly.
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