NEW YORK: Brent crude edged up on Friday, June 3 as the weak dollar and Middle East violence sparked a rebound after disappointing U.S. payrolls data sent prices plunging.
U.S. crude futures settled slightly lower after tumbling more than $2 in early trade reacting to the jobs data. U.S. May nonfarm payrolls posted the weakest reading since September and the U.S. jobless rate rose to 9.1 percent.
The dollar fell as the disappointing U.S. jobs data added to evidence of an economic slowdown. The euro touched a one-month high on optimism that Greece will receive its next aid payment. The lessening of worry about Greece also helped Brent crude rebound.
Brent crude for July delivery rose 30 cents to settle at $115.84 a barrel, recovering from a $113.40 intraday low. It ended with a weekly gain of 81 cents, or 0.7 percent.
U.S. July crude fell 18 cents to settle at $100.22 a barrel, recovering from its $98.12 low and pushing back above its 100-day moving average of $99.58.
Crude trading volumes fell from the previous day, but were near 30-day averages.
"The dollar is weak and equities bounced back some and the initial shock from the jobs report wore off," said Dan Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago, as crude pushed off early lows.
"The Middle East and Yemen especially will make people cautious about being too short going into the weekend."
Brokers said oil prices drew support as the S&P 500 index pared enough losses to finish above 1,300.
U.S. regulators said they will not let TransCanada Corp (TRP.TO) restart its Keystone crude oil pipeline until they are satisfied problems that caused at least two leaks in a month are resolved.
This added to uncertainty about the timing of the restart for the 591,000 barrel a day pipeline that moves Canadian crude to the United States.
Refinery outages lifted U.S. gasoline and heating oil futures to higher settlements on Friday.
In addition to outages in the Midwest, Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) began unspecified planned maintenance at its 562,500 barrels per day Baytown, Texas, refinery, according to a local community recording issued by the company.
OPEC, MIDDLE EAST
Traders were watching the growing violence in Yemen, a small oil producer on the Arabian Peninsula that borders top OPEC exporter Saudi Arabia. Shells struck Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's palace in Sanaa, slightly wounding Saleh and three other senior officials.
Syrian forces opened fire to disperse demonstrators in several parts of the country, residents said, and protesters defied a widespread military crackdown as they demanded the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.
Markets are also awaiting next week's OPEC meeting. Some OPEC sources have indicated the producer group could raise output targets at their meeting, although Ali Al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia's oil minister, took a cautious tack on Thursday, repeating previous comments that OPEC would lift production if there was more demand for crude.
Analysts will be looking to see if any change only codifies estimates of current production above targets, or suggests an actual output boost.
The International Energy Agency (IEA), advisor to 28 industrialized countries, reiterated on Friday its call for OPEC to boost output to pull oil prices further lower.
"There is a need for more oil in the market, and we hope producing countries are reading the market signals in the way we are," Fatih Birol, chief economist for the IEA, told Reuters.
"We are already seeing the impact of high oil prices in the U.S. and China," Birol said, adding that U.S. economic data was showing slower growth rates while inflationary pressure in China was on the rise.
U.S. crude futures settled slightly lower after tumbling more than $2 in early trade reacting to the jobs data. U.S. May nonfarm payrolls posted the weakest reading since September and the U.S. jobless rate rose to 9.1 percent.
The dollar fell as the disappointing U.S. jobs data added to evidence of an economic slowdown. The euro touched a one-month high on optimism that Greece will receive its next aid payment. The lessening of worry about Greece also helped Brent crude rebound.
Brent crude for July delivery rose 30 cents to settle at $115.84 a barrel, recovering from a $113.40 intraday low. It ended with a weekly gain of 81 cents, or 0.7 percent.
U.S. July crude fell 18 cents to settle at $100.22 a barrel, recovering from its $98.12 low and pushing back above its 100-day moving average of $99.58.
Crude trading volumes fell from the previous day, but were near 30-day averages.
"The dollar is weak and equities bounced back some and the initial shock from the jobs report wore off," said Dan Flynn, analyst at PFGBest Research in Chicago, as crude pushed off early lows.
"The Middle East and Yemen especially will make people cautious about being too short going into the weekend."
Brokers said oil prices drew support as the S&P 500 index pared enough losses to finish above 1,300.
U.S. regulators said they will not let TransCanada Corp (TRP.TO) restart its Keystone crude oil pipeline until they are satisfied problems that caused at least two leaks in a month are resolved.
This added to uncertainty about the timing of the restart for the 591,000 barrel a day pipeline that moves Canadian crude to the United States.
Refinery outages lifted U.S. gasoline and heating oil futures to higher settlements on Friday.
In addition to outages in the Midwest, Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) began unspecified planned maintenance at its 562,500 barrels per day Baytown, Texas, refinery, according to a local community recording issued by the company.
OPEC, MIDDLE EAST
Traders were watching the growing violence in Yemen, a small oil producer on the Arabian Peninsula that borders top OPEC exporter Saudi Arabia. Shells struck Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's palace in Sanaa, slightly wounding Saleh and three other senior officials.
Syrian forces opened fire to disperse demonstrators in several parts of the country, residents said, and protesters defied a widespread military crackdown as they demanded the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.
Markets are also awaiting next week's OPEC meeting. Some OPEC sources have indicated the producer group could raise output targets at their meeting, although Ali Al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia's oil minister, took a cautious tack on Thursday, repeating previous comments that OPEC would lift production if there was more demand for crude.
Analysts will be looking to see if any change only codifies estimates of current production above targets, or suggests an actual output boost.
The International Energy Agency (IEA), advisor to 28 industrialized countries, reiterated on Friday its call for OPEC to boost output to pull oil prices further lower.
"There is a need for more oil in the market, and we hope producing countries are reading the market signals in the way we are," Fatih Birol, chief economist for the IEA, told Reuters.
"We are already seeing the impact of high oil prices in the U.S. and China," Birol said, adding that U.S. economic data was showing slower growth rates while inflationary pressure in China was on the rise.
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