Brent crude rose above 107 dollars a barrel on Friday, heading for a second weekly gain.
“The market is playing a bit of wait and see game.
“But in general, there is quite a bit of optimism we’ll get good numbers and that is supporting oil,” said Ben Le Brun, a market analyst at OptionsXpress in Sydney.
Large price swings are not expected ahead of U.S. non-farm payrolls data. A Media poll points to recovery in U.S. jobs growth to 185,000 in January from 74,000 in December.
Brent crude was up 17 cents at 107.36 dollars, after rising almost a per cent in the previous session – its biggest daily gain since Jan. 22.
The bullish performance on Thursday stemmed partly from a report that showed the number of Americans filing new unemployment benefit claims fell slightly more than expected last week.
U.S. crude was down 16 cents at 97.68 dollars, hurt by expectations of lower demand during peak maintenance season.
Brent’s premium to the U.S. benchmark was at 9.68 dollars a barrel. The spread narrowed to 7.94 dollars a barrel on Wednesday, the tightest since Oct. 10.
If the non-farm payrolls data delivers further signs of U.S. economic growth, it could prompt the Federal Reserve to curb a monetary stimulus programme that has helped support risky assets such as commodities.
But traders reckoned it would take a significant deviation from expectations for the data to shake the oil market.
Tighter supply of North Sea crude in March could support the Brent benchmark.
Loading of the four crude streams Brent, Forties, Oseberg and Ekofisk (BFOE) will average 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) in March.
This figure is down from an expected 1.03 million bpd in February, according to loading programmes.
Oil prices are expected to rise aided by peak refinery maintenance season as refiners in the U.S and Asia will shut down units in the second quarter.
“That is going to limit demand for crude, but product prices could go up due to limited supply,” said Le Brun.
Investors will watch Saturday’s talks with Iran as the U.N. nuclear watchdog hopes to persuade the Islamic state to finally start addressing long-held suspicions of its designing a nuclear bomb.
Tough international sanctions over the past two years have cut Iran’s oil exports in half. (Reuters/NAN)
© anu for Royal Times of Nigeria Newspaper, 2014. |
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