Oil steady, traders on sidelines as OPEC+ talks drag on (updated)

Big Sky Industrial

02/07/2021 06:11

* OPEC+ seeks consensus on oil output policy after UAE
roadblock 
    * U.S. drillers add oil, gas rigs -Baker Hughes
    * Concerns with fuel demand in Asia linger

 (New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments,
adds Baker Hughes data)
    By Stephanie Kelly
    NEW YORK, July 2 (Reuters) - Oil prices steadied on Friday
after OPEC+ ministers resumed talks on raising oil output the
day after the United Arab Emirates blocked a deal, which could
delay plans to pump more oil through the end of the year.
    The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and
allies, known as OPEC+, are meeting again after UAE opposed the
proposals, saying it wanted its quota to be higher, sources
said. The long rally in prices could be undermined if OPEC+
nations go their separate ways and add to supply as they see
fit. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N2OE0FA
    Brent crude  LCOc1  futures rose 33 cents to settle at
$76.17 a barrel, after rising 1.6% on Thursday.
    U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude  CLc1  futures fell
7 cents to settle at $75.16 a barrel, having jumped 2.4% on
Thursday to close at their highest since October 2018. 
    "We're in wait-and-see mode here with OPEC," said John
Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York. "We'll have to
see where the Saudis want to come out in terms of holding the
group together."
    On Thursday, both benchmark contracts rose after OPEC+
sources said the group aimed to hike output by less than
expected, then retreated when UAE opposed the proposals, which
also included extending the pact on output to the end of 2022.
    "If the alliance cracks and breaks up ... the oil market
could plunge into a very similar price crash witnessed when
Russia 'left' OPEC+ at the March 2020 meeting and triggered a
price war," said Louise Dickson, oil markets analyst at Rystad
Energy
    WTI was on track for a 1.5% rise for the week, with the U.S.
crude market expected to tighten as refinery runs pick up to
meet recovering gasoline demand.  EIA/S 
    U.S. energy firms added oil and natural gas rigs for a third
time in four weeks. The oil and gas rig count, an early
indicator of future output, rose by 5 to 475 in the week to July
2, its highest since April 2020, energy services firm Baker
Hughes Co  BKR.N  said in its closely followed report on Friday.
 RIG-USA-BHI ,  RIG-OL-USA-BHI ,  RIG-GS-USA-BHI .
    Brent was largely steady on the week, as the market assessed
fuel demand concerns in parts of Asia where cases of the highly
contagious COVID-19 Delta variant are surging.
    Citi analysts said they did not expect WTI to climb to a
premium to Brent because they expected U.S. oil output to pick
up at the end of 2021 and grow further in 2022.

 (Additional reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by David Goodman,
Edmund Blair, Louise Heavens, William Maclean and David
Gregorio)
 ((Stephanie.Kelly@thomsonreuters.com; 646-223-4471; Reuters
Messaging: stephanie.kelly.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))