LDN - Business

Oil rises on UK pipeline outage but U.S. supply caps gains

[December 19, 2017] By Alex Lawler

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil edged up toward $64 a barrel on Tuesday, helped by a North Sea pipeline outage, OPEC-led supply cuts and jitters about threats to Middle East supplies after a missile was fired by a Yemeni group at the Saudi capital.

But rising output in the United States has put a lid on gains. Shale production will rise to a record in January, according to a government forecast published on Monday, as higher prices encourage companies to pump more.

Brent crude <LCOc1>, the global benchmark, was up 22 cents to $63.63 a barrel at 1220 GMT. U.S. crude <CLc1> gained 33 cents to $57.49.

The shutdown of the North Sea's Forties pipeline since last week has supported Brent in particular, as Forties is the largest of the five crude grades underpinning the benchmark. Brent reached $65.83, its highest since mid-2015, on Dec. 12.

"This should ensure buying pressures remain at the fore of the Brent structure until the turn of the year at the very least," said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM.

Ineos, operator of the Forties pipeline, said on Tuesday it was moving forward with a preferred repair option and the timeframe for the fix remained two to four weeks starting from Dec. 11, the date of the shutdown.

Oil ticked up after reports that a missile was fired at Riyadh from Yemen, but pared gains after Saudi Arabia said it intercepted the missile and no casualties were reported.

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An oil well pump jack is seen at an oil field supply yard near Denver, Colorado, U.S., February 2, 2015. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo

A deal by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-member producers including Russia to cut supplies to curb a supply glut that has built up since 2014 has also boosted prices.

OPEC and its allies have extended the agreement until the end of 2018 and Russia's Rosneft <ROSN.MM> said on Monday it could be maintained beyond next year.

As a result of the cuts, oil inventories are falling globally and the latest weekly supply reports are expected to show a further reduction in U.S. crude inventories.

The first of these reports, from the American Petroleum Institute, is due at 2130 GMT on Tuesday. [EIA/S]

Still, rising U.S. production is countering lower supply elsewhere. U.S. shale output in January is forecast to increase by 94,000 barrels per day to 6.41 million bpd, according to the EIA's monthly drilling productivity report.

"The U.S. shale oil report issued late yesterday is on the bearish side," said Olivier Jakob, analyst at Petromatrix.

(Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Jason Neely and Edmund Blair)

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