On Friday oil benchmarks ended the week on a gain: ICE Brent front month climbed by 2.4%, to settle at $111.64/b while NYMEX WTI traded 2.5% higher and closed at $108.43/b. This was a low-volume day, ahead of a 3-days weekend in the US.
This bullish market came as traders were more concerned with supply issues than the risk of a recession, yet dominant on other markets. There is a planned strike in Norway, on 5th July, that could put 8% of the country production (or 320kb/d) offline. And also, developments of the Libyan situation, where two terminals and an oil field declared force majeure, national production is 865kb/d below normal level.
Last week, there was one more active oil rig in the US.
According to a survey conducted by Reuters (by tracking oil shipments), OPEC oil production declined by 100kb/d in June: Libyan and Nigerian declines more than offset the additional production in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait. That would be the second month in a row of output decline for the cartel.
This morning oil continues to move up, ICE Brent is 0.5% higher. The markets are open, but volumes should be modest due to 4th of July public holiday in the US.
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