Middle East spot crude prices are climbing on expectations of tighter supplies after the OPEC+ group caught the market off guard by announcing further output cuts from May to the rest of the year.
That is likely to boost demand for U.S. crude exports to Asia, analysts have said.
The OPEC+ output cuts risk exacerbating an oil supply deficit expected in the second half of the year and could hurt consumers and global economic recovery, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. Meanwhile, the U.S. oil rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by two to 588 this week, the lowest level since June 2022.
Oil and gas activity in the U.S. Midwest and Mountain West states declined in the first quarter and is expected to continue to slow, according to a survey released on Friday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
* Light Louisiana Sweet for May delivery was flat
at a midpoint of a $2.15 premium and was seen bid and offered
between a $2 and a $2.30 a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures
* Mars Sour eased 5 cents at a midpoint of an
80-cent discount and was seen bid and offered between a 60-cent
and a $1 a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures
* WTI Midland was flat at a midpoint of a 50-cent
premium and was seen bid and offered between a 25-cent and a
75-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude futures
* West Texas Sour strengthened to trade about
flat at midpoint and was seen bid and offered between a 20-cent
premium and a 20-cent a barrel discount to U.S. crude futures
* WTI at East Houston , also known as MEH, traded
between a 50-cent and a 90-cent a barrel premium to U.S. crude
futures
* ICE Brent June futures rose 22 cents to settle at
$86.31 a barrel.
* WTI May crude futures rose 36 cents to settle at $82.52 a barrel?.
* The Brent/WTI spread narrowed to minus $3.88, after hitting a high of minus $3.74 and a low of minus $4.06. (Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston Editing by Matthew Lewis)
@ArathySom;))