Crude optimism persists

LONDON, October 20, 2017 – Crude oil prices rose on Friday, recovering from the previous session’s sharp losses as optimism over the tightening of the market persisted.

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude November contract was up 14 cents or about 0.25% at $51.41 a barrel by 04:00 a.m. ET (08:00 GMT).

Elsewhere, Brent oil for December delivery on the ICE Futures Exchange in London was up 13 cents or about 0.24% at $57.37 a barrel.

Crude prices found support after the Energy Information Administration reported this week that crude oil inventories fell by 5.7 million barrels, marking the fourth straight weekly decline. However, gasoline stockpiles were up 900,000 barrels for the week, while distillate stockpiles rose by 500,000 barrels.

The report also showed that domestic crude production slumped by 11% from the previous week to 8.4 million, as production had to be shut because of Hurricane Nate, which hit the U.S. Gulf coast earlier in October.

Prices were also boosted by expectations that major global producers will extend a deal to curb production beyond its current expiry date next March.

The commodity had weakened on Thursday after the outgoing governor of China’s central bank warned of a “Minsky moment”, a reference to excessive optimism about economic growth.

Elsewhere, gasoline futures were up 0.30% at $1.65 a gallon, while natural gas futures rose 0.35% to $2.883 per million British thermal units.

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