Oil prices were stable on Friday, held back by a strengthening U.S.
dollar but supported by China’s relentless thirst for crude amid the
OPEC-led supply cuts that have already tightened the market this year.
Traders said a stronger
dollar, which has gained 0.8 percent this month against a basket of
other leading currencies, was weighing on prices.
Despite this, China’s booming oil demand will this year overtake the United States as the world’s biggest crude importer.
China’s crude oil imports rose to 37.04 million tonnes in November, or 9.01 million barrels per day (bpd), the second highest on record, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Friday.
Threatening to undermine OPEC’s goal to tighten markets is U.S. oil production, which has risen by more than 15 percent since mid-2016 to 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd), the highest level since the early 1970s and close to the output of top producers Russia and Saudi Arabia.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures
were at $56.68 a barrel at 0407 GMT, virtually unchanged from their last
settlement at $56.69.
Brent crude futures, the
international benchmark for oil prices, were also little changed, at
$62.21 a barrel, up just one cent.
Despite this, China’s booming oil demand will this year overtake the United States as the world’s biggest crude importer.
China’s crude oil imports rose to 37.04 million tonnes in November, or 9.01 million barrels per day (bpd), the second highest on record, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Friday.
Threatening to undermine OPEC’s goal to tighten markets is U.S. oil production, which has risen by more than 15 percent since mid-2016 to 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd), the highest level since the early 1970s and close to the output of top producers Russia and Saudi Arabia.
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