Category: Commodities
Crude oil dipped in Asia on Monday with oversupply the key factor as markets head into a holiday-thinned trading week.On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil for delivery in January dropped 0.62% to $35.84 a barrel.In the week ahead, trading volumes are expected to remain light due to the Christmas holiday and as many traders already closed books before the end of the year, reducing liquidity in the market and increasing the volatility.The U.S. is to release key reports on gross domestic product, durable goods orders, home sales and jobless claims.Last week, West Texas Intermediate oil prices crashed to a fresh seven-year low on Friday, after data showed that rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. rose last week, underlining concerns over robust domestic production.
Industry research group Baker Hughes (N:N:BHI) said late Friday that the number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. increased by 17 to 541 last week, the first gain in five weeks.Elsewhere, on the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil for February delivery dipped 18 cents, or 0.49%, on Friday to close the week at $36.88 a barrel. Prices slumped to $36.14 on December 14, a level not seen since the depths of the 2008 global financial crisis.Oil futures have fallen sharply this month after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries failed to agree on output targets to reduce a glut of oversupply on global energy markets.Global crude production is outpacing demand following a boom in U.S. shale oil and after a decision by OPEC last year not to cut production in order to defend market share.
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