10 November 2015 – Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Tuesday after the head of Opec forecast a more balanced market next year and the US energy department said domestic production is likely to fall for an eight consecutive month.
US crude rose 19 cents to $44.06 a barrel early on Tuesday, after falling about 1% on Monday to $43.87 for a fourth consecutive decline.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up 11 cents at $47.30 a barrel. The contract slipped 0.5% on Monday to $47.19 a barrel, also falling for four trading days in a row.
The declines have been driven by mounting evidence of stockpiling, but the comments by Opec secretary-general Abdullah al-Badri on Monday provided a bullish tone to the market.
“The expectation is that the market will return to more balance in 2016,” al-Badri said in a speech in the Qatari capital Doha.
“We see global oil demand maintaining its recent healthy growth. We see less non-Opec supply. And we see an increase in the demand for Opec crude,” Badri said.
Most of the oil supply increases in recent years have come from high-cost production, Badri said, in a reference to supply sources such as US shale oil.
Shale production is expected to fall for an eighth consecutive month in December, according to a forecast on Monday from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
*Reuters
