New York, US (BBN) – Crude prices dipped moderately in Asia on Monday with tensions over a ballistic missile test over the weekend by North Korea supporting sentiment, particularly after Pyongyang said it had achieved the ability to carry a nuclear payload and use solid fuel.
On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for April delivery eased 0.04 per cent to $56.68 a barrel, while on the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for delivery in March dipped 0.06 per cent to $53.83 a barrel, reports Investing.com.
OPEC is scheduled to publish its first assessment of its January production based on the secondary sources in its monthly oil market report on Monday.
Later in the day, the US Energy Information Administration will release its monthly update on domestic oil and natural-gas shale output.
Japan’s GDP grew at an annualized rate of 1.0 per cent in the fourth-quarter, below a Reuters poll estimates of 1.1 per cent.
This week, the UK and China are to release what will be closely watched data on inflation. Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is due to testify to Congress for the first time since Donald Trump entered the White House.
Last week, oil futures finished sharply higher on Friday, as traders cheered signs that global supply was beginning to tighten in wake of a planned agreement by major crude producers to cut output.
But prices barely logged a weekly gain, pressured by expectations for further growth in US crude production.
Supply from the 11 OPEC members with production targets under the deal has fallen to 29.92 million barrels per day last month.
That amounts to 92 per cent compliance, far higher than the initial 60 per cent compliance with a 2009 OPEC deal.
January 1 marked the official start of the deal agreed by OPEC and non-OPEC member countries such as Russia in November last year to reduce output by a combined 1.8 million barrels per day to 32.5 million for the next six months.
The deal, if carried out as planned, should reduce global supply by about 2 per cent.
Oilfield services provider Baker Hughes said Friday that the number of rigs drilling for oil in the US increased by 8 last week, the 14th gain in 15 weeks.
That brought the total count to 591, the most since November 2015.
The data raised concerns that the ongoing rebound in US shale production could derail efforts by other major producers to rebalance global oil supply and demand.
BBN/SK/AD