Hong Kong -
Oil halted its advance below $54 a barrel as an increase in US drilling
countered signs OPEC members including Saudi Arabia are sticking to planned
output cuts to stabilise the market.
Futures
slid as much as 0.6 percent in New York after rising 3.2 percent the previous
three sessions. US drillers added rigs for the 10th straight week to the
highest level in a year, according Baker Hughes Inc. Saudi Arabia is among OPEC
producers leading a reduction in supply, the group’s Secretary-General Mohammad
Barkindo said in an interview with Kuwait’s official news agency.
Oil last
year capped its biggest annual gain since 2009 as the Organisation of Petroleum
Exporting Countries and 11 other nations agreed to curb output starting January
1 in an effort to trim a global inventory glut. While producers from Iraq to
Kuwait say they have started to curb supply, an increase from countries such as
Libya - exempt from cuts - could put pressure on prices.
“The oil
market has found a temporary equilibrium point and appears content to sit
around that level at the moment,” said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC
Markets in Sydney. “We are getting anecdotal evidence of OPEC production cuts
and that’s enough to hold the market firm.”
West Texas
Intermediate for February delivery slid as much as 33 cents to $53.66 a barrel
on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $53.69 at 1:39 p.m. in Hong
Kong. Total volume traded was about 62 percent below the 100-day average.
The contract rose 23 cents to $53.99 a barrel on Friday to cap a fourth weekly
gain.
BLOOMBERG