Oil near mid-2015 highs on strong China data

A flame burns at a Shell oil refinery in Deer Park, Texas.

Oil prices stood near their highest in two-and-a-half years, supported by strong data from top importer China amid thin trading activity ahead of the New Year weekend.

Heading into 2018, traders said market conditions were relatively tight because of supply cuts led by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and Russia.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 8 cents at $59.72 a barrel by 1100 GMT. WTI this week broke through $60 a barrel for the first time since June 2015.

WTI was supported by a report from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showing a six million barrel drop in crude oil inventories to 432.8 million.

Brent crude futures were at $66.50 a barrel, up 6 cents. Brent this week broke through $67 for the first time since May 2015.

Support also came from China's release of strong import quotas for 2018, which could lead to another record for purchases by the world's biggest importer.

China's oil thirst has also led to a three per cent monthly drawdown in its crude inventories in November, to a seven-year low of 26.15 million tonnes, Xinhua data showed on Thursday.

Oil markets have also been tightened by a year of Opec and Russia-led production cuts that started last January and are scheduled to continue throughout 2018.

A Reuters monthly poll showed on Thursday that analysts expect Brent crude to stay close to $60 a barrel in 2018. Pipeline outages in Libya and the North Sea have also supported prices.

"Given the much stronger price response to supply disruptions in the wake of Opec supply cuts, the market is poised to make further gains," said Stephen Innes, head of trading for Asia/Pacific at futures brokerage Oanda.

About 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Libyan oil supplies were disrupted by an attack on a pipeline this week. In the North Sea, the 450,000 bpd capacity Forties pipeline system was shut this month after a crack was found.

Both pipelines are expected to return to normal operations over the new year or in early January, with Forties already in the start-up process.
US oil production has soared more than 16 per cent since mid-2016 and is fast approaching 10 million bpd. - Reuters