On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading up 1.1% at $42.22 a barrel. The contract rose 48 cents to $44.66 Friday.
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Analysts said the impact of comments by the Saudi Arabian oil minister, that his country was prepared to work with other oil producers to stabilise prices, was muted because there was no firm signal to slash production to ease the global glut.
“We can not allow that the market continue controlling the price”, del Pino told journalists at the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Tehran, according to Bloomberg.
“The market is quite skeptical that any resolve will occur between OPEC and non-OPEC producers”, said Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates.
But prices turned lower again as oversupply concerns remained a factor for oil markets.
“Irrespective of [Saudi Arabia’s] statements we still think that the oil price has a challenging time ahead as we move into the first half of 2016’s with rising stocks… and a likely stronger USD”, Mr. Schieldrop said.
Del Pino also said Russian Federation will not attend an informal OPEC meeting on December 3.
Saudi Arabia led a shift by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in November 2014 to defend market share against competing supplies, rather than cut output to prop up prices. Crude demand is expected to rise by one million barrels a day every year in this decade, and the world requires more investments in oil to compensate for declining recovery rates, he said.
This week, analysts will be taking cues from US economic indicators such as manufacturing data, weekly jobless claims, and a forecast for third-quarter gross domestic product.
January futures fell as much as 2.2 percent in NY as the dollar gained, making commodities priced in the USA currency more expensive. It rose more than $1 on the Saudi statement, then surrendered those gains to trade $1 lower before rebounding.
Meanwhile, crude oil inventories in the U.S. increased for an eighth straight week, the U.S.’ Energy Information Administration said last Wednesday. In July its output hit a three-year high, when the cartel pumped 31.5 million barrels per day (bpd). The European benchmark crude traded at a premium of US$3 to WTI.
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The oil market has been on the defensive in recent months amid uncertainty about how quickly the global glut of crude is set to shrink.
