A section of the BP Eastern Trough Area Project (ETAP) oil platform is seen in the North Sea, around 100 miles east of Aberdeen in Scotland February 24, 2014.
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International Brent crude futures were trading at $49.31 per barrel at 0047 GMT, 3 cents above their last settlement, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were unchanged at $48.31 a barrel.
Despite Thursday’s price falls, analysts said that global supply disruptions still loomed.
Oil Futures continued to advance early Tuesday amid concern over the impact week-long wildfires in Canada have had on that country’s output as well as security fears in producers Nigeria, Libya and the Middle East. There was no immediate threat to oil sands facilities, he added.
Raging wildfires in oil-rich parts of the Canadian province of Alberta have forced major oil companies to shut down some operations and cut production by about 1.2 million barrels of oil per day, according to Manouchehr Takin, an independent oil and energy consultant.
The bank even said that global crude inventories were still edging up despite the supply disruptions, implying that there is still more oil being produced than consumed. The terminal, Nigeria’s largest and typically exporting more than 300,000 barrels per day, declared a force majeure last week after damage to a pipeline.
“To be fair, there have been numerous supply disruptions over the past week”, said John Kilduff, partner at NY energy hedge fund Again Capital.
LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) – Oil traded at around $49 a barrel on Tuesday within sight of a six-month high, supported by supply outages in Nigeria, Canada and other producers that are eroding a persistent glut. After falling by nearly 8 percent against a basket of other currencies between January and April, the dollar has since recovered 3.5 percent, weighing on oil.
Meanwhile, Brent’s premium to the WTI crude contract stood at $1.07 a barrel, compared to a gap of $1.25 by close of trade on Monday. It slid to $46.73 earlier.
Brent for July jumped 93 cents to $48.76. Brent has rallied from January lows of $27 and WTI from February levels of $26.
Others think the dollar will not dent oil much.
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At the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for delivery in May was trading higher by Rs 36, or 1.13 per cent, to Rs 3,215 per barrel, in a business turnover of 5,187 lots.
