Oil Rises Ahead of Thanksgiving Holiday
Oil futures held gains Tuesday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday and a meeting by major oil producers to discuss a possible extension of output cuts.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.48% to $62.52 a barrel on London's ICE Futures exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading up 0.46% at $56.67 a barrel.
Major U.S. markets will be closed on Thursday in observance of the U.S. national holiday.
Prices also received a small boost from the partial shutdown of TransCanada's Keystone pipeline after an oil spill last week, analysts said.
"It is still in the range that we have seen last week. We have the Thanksgiving holidays and some supply disruptions that offer a bit of support," said Olivier Jakob, managing director at oil consultancy Petromatrix.
Still, most investors are waiting to see the outcome of the meeting with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers including Russia that are scheduled to meet Nov. 30.
The cartel and external producers first agreed a year ago to reduce global crude output by nearly 2% from peak October 2016 levels in an effort to rein in a supply glut and boost prices.
The deal, which was extended in May, is set to expire in March but investors are hoping for an extension of the deal through 2018.
While Saudi Arabia has expressed its dedication to extending the agreement, investors are less sure of Russia's commitment.
Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak is set to hold talks with Russian oil companies Tuesday.
In anticipation of the meeting, investors have increased their net long speculative positions in WTI by 32,000 to 372,000 contracts in the week to Nov. 14, close to the record level achieved in February 2017.
Net long positions in Brent are already at a record level, said analysts for Commerzbank.
Some analysts warn that the meeting could result in a surprising outcome.
"We think there is some danger of a short-term market disappointment; trader expectations are for a definitive and conclusive deal, and the reality seems more likely to disappoint than surprise to the upside," said analysts for Standard Chartered Bank in a recent note.
Nymex reformulated gasoline blendstock--the benchmark gasoline contract--rose 0.70% to $1.76 a gallon. ICE gas oil changed hands at $560.25 a metric ton, up $4.25 from the previous settlement.
Write to Neanda Salvaterra at neanda.salvaterra@wsj.com
Oil futures gained Tuesday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday and a meeting next week of major oil producers to discuss a possible extension of output cuts.
Light, sweet crude for January delivery rose 41 cents, or 0.7%, to $56.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent, the global benchmark, advanced 35 cents, or 0.6%, to $62.57 a barrel.
The market has benefited from expectations that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will extend a deal to reduce production and bring down global supply.
Prices also received a small boost from the partial shutdown of TransCanada's Keystone pipeline after an oil spill last week, analysts said.
"It is still in the range that we have seen last week. We have the Thanksgiving holidays and some supply disruptions that offer a bit of support," said Olivier Jakob, managing director at oil consultancy Petromatrix.
OPEC will meet with other producers outside of the cartel, including Russia, on Nov. 30 in Vienna.
The cartel and external producers first agreed a year ago to reduce global crude output by nearly 2% from peak October 2016 levels in an effort to rein in a supply glut and boost prices.
The deal, which was extended in May, is set to expire in March but investors are hoping for an extension of the deal through 2018.
While Saudi Arabia has expressed its dedication to extending the agreement, investors are less sure of Russia's commitment. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak is set to hold talks with Russian oil companies Tuesday.
In anticipation of the meeting, investors have increased their net long speculative positions in WTI by 32,000 to 372,000 contracts in the week to Nov. 14, close to the record level achieved in February 2017.
Net long positions in Brent are already at a record level, said analysts for Commerzbank.
Some analysts warn that the meeting could result in a surprising outcome.
"We think there is some danger of a short-term market disappointment; trader expectations are for a definitive and conclusive deal, and the reality seems more likely to disappoint than surprise to the upside," said analysts for Standard Chartered Bank in a recent note.
Analysts are also anticipating that government data will show a drop in crude stockpiles from last week. Market watchers surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expect on average to see U.S. oil inventories decline by 1.5 million barrels in the week ended Nov. 17. The closely watched report is due Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. EST.
The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said late Tuesday that its data for the week showed a 6.4 million-barrel decrease in crude supplies, an 869,000-barrel rise in gasoline stocks and a 1.7 million-barrel decline in distillate inventories, according to a market participant.
Gasoline futures rose 1.7% to $1.7731 a gallon and diesel futures rose 0.2% to $1.9359 a gallon.
Stephanie Yang contributed to this article.
Write to Neanda Salvaterra at neanda.salvaterra@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 21, 2017 17:22 ET (22:22 GMT)