OIL PRICE: NEARLY $77

REUTERS - Oil prices fell on Friday, reversing early gains as signs of weakening demand in China and surging U.S. output weighed on markets despite support from supply woes in Venezuela and OPEC's production cuts.

Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $76.79 per barrel at 0654 GMT, down 53 cents, or 0.7 percent, from their last close.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were down 38 cents, or 0.6 percent, at $65.57 a barrel.

China's May crude oil imports eased away from a record high hit the month before, customs data showed on Friday, with state-run refineries entering planned maintenance.

May shipments were 39.05 million tonnes, or 9.2 million barrels per day (bpd), according to the General Administration of Customs. That compared with 9.6 million bpd in April.

Further weighing on prices has been surging U.S. output C-OUT-T-EIA, which hit another record last week at 10.8 million bpd.

That's a 28 percent gain in two years, or an average 2.3 percent growth rate per month since mid-2016. It puts the United States close to becoming the world's biggest crude oil producer, edging nearer to the 11 million bpd churned out by Russia.

The surge in U.S. production has pulled down U.S. WTI crude into a steep discount versus Brent CL-LCO1=R to more than $11 per barrel, its steepest since 2015.

"This is occurring because of the rapid increase in production from U.S. shale coupled with the tightening of supplies elsewhere through the actions of OPEC and Russia," said William O'Loughlin, investment analyst at Australia's Rivkin Securities.

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Earlier: 

2018, June, 6, 12:25:00 OIL PRICE: NEARLY $76 REUTERS - Brent crude LCOc1 rose 78 cents to $76.16 a barrel by 0645 GMT after dropping to its lowest since May 8 on Tuesday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were up 33 cents at $65.85 a barrel, having touched a near two-month low on Tuesday.

2018, June, 6, 12:20:00 OPEC - RUSSIA OPINION REUTERS - “We have to look into the situation which has panned out on the market today, from the point of view of the volume cuts, inventories decline, shortages on the market, and to adjust the figures,” Novak told reporters.

2018, June, 4, 13:55:00 OIL PRICE: ABOVE $76 ANEW REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 10 cents, or 0.2 percent, $65.71 a barrel by 2353 GMT. Last week, WTI lost around 3 percent, adding to a near 5 percent decline a week before. The global benchmark Brent fell 26 cents, or 0.34 percent, to $76.53 a barrel.

2018, June, 4, 13:50:00 ЦЕНА URALS: $67.91 МИНФИН РОССИИ - Средняя цена нефти марки Urals по итогам января – мая 2018 года составила $ 67,91 за баррель. В 2017 году средняя цена на Urals в январе – мае составила $ 51,29 за баррель. Средняя цена на нефть марки Urals в мае 2018 года сложилась в размере $ 74,86 за баррель, что в 1,52 раза выше, чем в мае 2017 года ($ 49,14 за баррель).

2018, June, 4, 13:35:00 IRAN'S OIL EXPORTS 2.7 MBD SHANA - The country exported 2.4 mbd of crude oil and 300,000 b/d of gas condensate, ultra light crude oil, during May.

2018, June, 1, 09:45:00 OIL PRICE: ABOVE $77 YET REUTERS - U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 lost 16 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $66.88 a barrel by 0423 GMT, after falling almost 2 percent on Thursday. Global benchmark Brent crude LCOc1, which was little changed in the previous session, was down 9 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $77.47 per barrel.

2018, May, 30, 14:10:00 OIL PRICE: ABOVE $75 TOO REUTERS - Brent LCOc1 rose 40 cents to $75.79 a barrel by 0925 GMT, after trading as low as $74.81 earlier. U.S. crude CLc1 was up 25 cents at $66.98.