Crude oil futures dip on profit-taking after multi-day rally

Crude oil futures dipped in mid-morning trade in Asia on Friday December 31 as investors booked year-end profits after a multi-day rally that pushed prices to highs not seen in five weeks.

March Brent futures contract was down 89 cents/b (1.12%) from the previous close at $78.64/b, while the NYMEX February light sweet crude contract was down 85 cents/b (1.1%) at $76.14/b.

Oil prices have been firm for two weeks as easing concerns over the severity of the omicron variant of the coronavirus saw investors returning to take long positions.

Most recent data from the Intercontinental Exchange showed net longs in the ICE Brent contract by money managers rising by 138 lots to 154,556 in the week ended Dec. 21 after falling for the previous 10 weeks.

The daily candlestick charts for both ICE Brent and NYMEX crude showed prices printing Doji candles in the last two trading sessions, indicating the upward momentum was likely exhausted amid a lack of fresh cues.

Some supply was seen returning in West Africa. Exports of Nigeria’s Forcados crude have restarted from its terminal on the Niger Delta, oil major Shell said Dec. 30, though it added that a force majeure on crude loadings remains in place for the time being.

In the US, the oil rig count fell for a second week, by 14 to 538 in the week ended December 29, energy analytics and software company Enverus said Dec. 30. The count in the US’ biggest field, the Permian basin, fell by 5 oil and gas rigs to 300.

Nonetheless, US oil production has continued to climb. Most recent data from the US Energy Information Administration showed US crude production rising by 200,000 b/d in the week ended Dec. 24 to 11.8 million b/d.

Crude production in the US was now at a high not seen since May 2020, though it remains some distance from an all-time high of 13.1 million b/d touched in March 2020.