Fighting in Libya has cut output there to 352,000 barrels a day, a
state oil company spokesman said on Thursday, or about half
November's average. This countered the U.S. Department of Energy's
(DOE) report showing a big stockbuild.
"Libya is a supportive factor," said Olivier Jakob, analyst at
Petromatrix in Zug, Switzerland. "The fighting in Libya is starting
to be more and more about a battle for the oil resources and this
will not end well."
Brent crude <LCOc1> was at $60.50 at 1230 GMT, up 26 cents, while
U.S. crude <CLc1> added 32 cents to $56.16 in thin trade as many
countries are still on Christmas holiday.
In Libya, a rocket set a storage tank at the country's biggest
export terminal, Es Sider, on fire as armed factions allied to
competing governments fought for control, officials from both sides
said on Thursday.
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On Friday, officials said the blaze had spread to two more tanks.
The market had come under pressure from Wednesday's DOE report,
which showed a 7.3 million-barrel rise in crude inventories to their
highest December level on record. Analysts had expected a seasonal
decline. [EIA/S]
Nonetheless, Brent still managed to close above $60 on Wednesday,
validating that psychological support level as the bottom of Brent's
trading range of $60 to $70 for now, Jakob said.
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Crude imports by Japan, the world's fourth-biggest oil buyer,
dropped 17.3 percent in November from a year earlier to 14.68
million kilolitres (3.08 million bpd), government data showed on
Thursday.
However, there is not enough downward pressure to keep prices down,
Singapore-based Phillip Futures said in a note.
"Prices seem adamant on staying above support levels and it seems
they will hold for this festive season," it said. "We continue to
attribute this to the short-covering at the end of the year."
(Reporting by Alex Lawler and Henning Gloystein; Editing by Robin
Pomeroy and Pravin Char)
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