Friday 29 Mar 2024
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SINGAPORE (Jan 9): U.S. crude futures rose more than 1 percent to above $49 a barrel on Friday as robust jobs data boosted the outlook for the world's largest economy, but the contract is set to record its seventh straight weekly drop in the face of a global supply glut.

FUNDAMENTALS

* U.S. crude for February delivery marked an intraday high of $49.61 a barrel, and was at $49.40, up 61 cents by 0016 GMT. The front-month price has posted just one weekly rise in the last 14 weeks.

* Brent crude, also set for a seventh weekly loss, settled down 19 cents at $51.15 a barrel on Thursday.

* Brent's premium to U.S. crude <CL-LCO1=R> fell near $2 a barrel, the narrowest since October.

* Saudi Arabia and its Gulf OPEC allies are showing no sign of considering cutting output to boost oil prices, even though they dipped below $50 a barrel this week.

* Mexico's state oil company, Pemex, said on Thursday it has proposed an oil swap with the United States, potentially ushering in the first sustained crude imports by Mexico from its northern neighbour after years of self-sufficiency.

* U.S. Senate Republicans on Thursday advanced a bill to approve construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, their top priority in a new campaign to push back President Barack Obama's policies now that they fully control Congress.

* Record-breaking cold gripped the U.S. East and Midwest on Thursday.

* Some of the world's largest oil traders have this week hired supertankers to store crude at sea, marking a milestone in the build-up of the global glut.

 

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