TOKYO (Reuters) - Oil
prices were lower on Friday but largely held gains that had prices flirting
with multi-month highs, as the cleanup after hurricanes in the United States
gathered pace and the outlook for demand took on a firmer tone.
In other markets,
typically safe haven assets like the yen =JPY and gold XAU= were higher, after
North Korea fired off yet another missile in breach of United Nations
sanctions, amid high regional tensions over its nuclear weapons programme.
U.S. West Texas
Intermediate crude CLc1 was down 15 cents, or 0.3 percent, at $49.74 a barrel
at 0012 GMT. It briefly broke above $50 to a four-month high on Thursday and
finished 1.2 percent higher at $49.89, its highest close since July 31.
Brent crude LCOc1
futures were down 20 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $55.27 a barrel. They gained 0.6
percent to settle at $55.47 the previous session, the highest close since April
13.
“The psychological barrier
of $50 per barrel remains a big hurdle for WTI, after it failed to settle above
it once again,” ANZ bank said in a research note.
Nevertheless, U.S.
crude is on track for a nearly 5 percent gain this week, buoyed by the return
of refineries after Hurricane Harvey and stronger indications of demand.
Brent is heading for a
3 percent gain and a third consecutive weekly rise.
On Wednesday, the IEA
said a global oil glut was shrinking thanks to strong European and U.S. demand,
as well as production declines in OPEC and non-OPEC countries.
The Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) earlier forecast higher demand for its oil
in 2018 and pointed to signs of a tighter global market, indicating its
production-cutting deal with non-member countries is helping to tackle a supply
glut.
BP Chief Executive Bob
Dudley told Reuters in an interview that oil prices were likely to stay between
$50 and $60 as major producers kept output restricted.
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