Oil prices edge up on supply disruption worries

Reuters  |  SINGAPORE 

By Gloystein

International Brent were at $76.37 per barrel at 0215 GMT, up 16 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last close.

U.S. Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 9 cents, or 0.1 percent, at $68.96 a barrel.

Despite some concerns about an economic slowdown because of the U.S.-trade conflict, crude supplies are relatively tight due to disruptions as well as voluntary restraints on output by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The cartel's monitoring committee found that participating in a supply-reduction agreement, which includes non-OPEC member Russia, cut output in July by 9 percent more than called for.

The findings for last month compare with a compliance level of 120 percent for June and 147 percent for May, meaning participants have been steadily increasing production.

OPEC and its allies agreed in late 2016 to cut output from 2017 by around 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) versus October 2016 levels.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) on Monday also warned of further supply disruptions, especially from Venezuela, where an economic crisis has cut deep into the OPEC-member's

Venezuelan have halved in the previous two years to just 1 million bpd by mid-2018, according to trade flow data.

"We can expect a further fall," the IEA's told in on Monday.

Birol also warned that African OPEC-members and "seem both still fragile countries" despite some recent improvements.

Birol said it was too early to gauge the impact of the U.S. sanctions that will target from November.

Beyond a relatively tight supply outlook, analysts said a fall in the dollar over the past two weeks was also supporting crude, as it makes cheaper for countries using other currencies at home.

"The weaker U.S.-dollar helped commodities in general," said Greg McKenna, at

(Reporting by Gloystein; Editing by and Richard Pullin)

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Tue, August 28 2018. 08:04 IST