OIL PRICE: ABOVE $63

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG  -  Oil prices steadied just below two-year highs on Thursday, supported by supply cuts by OPEC and other major exporters including Russia. 

Benchmark Brent crude oil LCOc1 was unchanged at $63.49 a barrel by 0840 GMT. On Tuesday, Brent reached an intra-day high of $64.65, its highest since June 2015. 

U.S. light crude CLc1 was steady at $56.81, not too far off this week's more than two-year high of $57.69 a barrel. 

Traders said a rally that has pushed up Brent by more than 40 percent since July may have run its course due to increases in U.S. supplies and some indicators of a demand slowdown. 

"Prices may have reached a short-term peak," said Fawad Razaqzada, analyst at futures brokerage Forex.com. 

Prices are still supported by efforts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia to withhold supplies in order to tighten the market and prop up prices. 

OPEC will discuss output during a meeting on Nov. 30, and is expected to extend the limits beyond their expiry in March 2018. 

"With the OPEC/non-OPEC deal extension beyond March 2018 a certainty, prices may become stronger and temporarily reach the $65-$70 per barrel range in 2018," said energy consultancy FGE. 

Despite this, many analysts say the price rally of the past months may have run its course, at least for now. 

U.S. crude stockpiles rose 2.2 million barrels in the week to Nov. 3, to 457.14 million barrels, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday, contrary to analysts' expectations for a decrease of 2.9 million barrels. 

U.S. crude production inched up 67,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 9.62 million bpd, the highest on record. 

Output looks set to rise further. Texas issued 997 oil and gas drilling permits last month, up nearly 17 percent versus the same month a year ago, the state's energy regulator said on Wednesday. 

Global fuel consumption remains strong, although the latest figures from top importer China were below expectations. 

Key for the last weeks of 2017 is whether traders remain confident about their huge bets on further price rises, or if they sell out, satisfied with recent strong gains. 

"It doesn't matter how bullish the fundamentals are ... when an asset goes vertical there is always room for a pullback and consolidation of recent price moves," said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at brokerage AxiTrader.

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Earlier:

November, 7, 12:45:00 OIL PRICE: ABOVE $64 Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 5 cents at $64.32 per barrel by 0750 GMT. On Monday, they closed 3.5 percent higher, also their biggest percentage gain in about six weeks. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was down just 3 cents at $57.32 a barrel. The contract surged 3 percent on Monday, the biggest percentage gain since late September. Both benchmarks hit their highest since mid-2015 during the session. Русский | English

November, 7, 12:40:00 OIL PRICES MAXIMUM ANEW West Texas Intermediate for December delivery rose 23 cents to $55.87 a barrel at 10:04 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange after earlier rising to $56.28, the highest intraday price since July 2015. Brent for January settlement climbed 46 cents to $62.53 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, and traded at a $6.41 premium to WTI for the same month. English

November, 7, 12:35:00 OIL PRICE 2018: $55 Barclays raised its Brent oil price forecast, saying Brent will average $60/bbl during the fourth quarter and will average $55/bbl in 2018. The average 2018 forecast was up $3 compared with Barclays earlier forecast. English

November, 3, 12:35:00 OIL PRICE: ABOVE $61 YET Brent futures LCOc1 were at $60.75 per barrel at 0739 GMT, up 13 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last close. Brent has risen by around 37 percent since its low in 2017 reached last June. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 was at $54.70 a barrel, up 16 cents, or 0.3 percent, from the last close. WTI is around 30 percent above its 2017-low in June. Русский | English

November, 3, 12:30:00 OPEC OIL PRICE: $58.49 OPEC daily basket price stood at $58.49 a barrel Thursday, 2 November 2017

November, 3, 12:25:00 ЦЕНА URALS: $51,15 Средняя цена нефти марки Urals по итогам января – октября 2017 года составила $ 51,15 за баррель.

October, 11, 12:50:00 OIL PRICES 2020: $50 - $60 Based on a “lower-for-longer” base-case scenario, global oil prices will remain in the $50-60/bbl range until late 2020, due to increasing supply that breaks even at $50/bbl, according to to the most recent global oil supply and demand outlook from McKinsey Energy Insights (MEI).