OIL PRICE: NEAR $61 TOO

REUTERS - Oil prices fell on Friday as investors cashed in gains of more than 2 percent made during the previous session on concerns demand may slump amid slowing economic growth, though there are still expectations for producer supply cuts to support prices.

China, the world's second-largest economy and the largest crude importer, on Friday reported some of the slowest retail sales and industrial output growth in years for November, highlighting the risks of the country's trade dispute with the United States.

Oil refinery throughput in November in China fell from October, which was the second-highest month on record, suggesting an easing in Chinese oil demand, though runs were 2.9 percent higher than a year earlier.

However, some support for prices remains because of the output cuts agreed between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers including Russia. That could create a supply deficit by the second quarter of next year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Thursday.

Brent crude oil futures were at $61.09 per barrel at 0353 GMT, down 36 cents, or 0.6 percent, from their last close.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $52.47 per barrel, down 11 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last settlement.

"I think after the big moves overnight there's a little bit of self-shock among traders, volumes are well down... I don't see a great deal of follow through on last night's moves," said Michael McCarthy, chief markets strategist at CMC markets.

International benchmark Brent crude rose 2.2 percent on Thursday, while WTI climbed 2.8 percent.

"After the big move yesterday, it's a little bit of consolidation that's happening," said Jonathan Barratt, chief investment officer at Probis Securities in Sydney.

For the week, however, Brent is set to drop 0.9 percent and WTI is set to fall 0.3 percent.

As a part of the OPEC supply-cutting deal agreed last week, its de facto leader Saudi Arabia plans to reduce its output to 10.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in January.

In China, refineries processed 50.46 million tonnes of crude oil last month, or 12.28 million bpd, up 2.9 percent from the same month last year, the National Bureau of Statistics reported.

However, that is down from October and from the record of 12.49 million bpd reported in September.

Still for the first 11 months of the year, refinery output gained 7.2 percent to 554.48 million tonnes, or 12.12 million bpd, on track for an annual record.

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Earlier: 

2018, December, 12, 09:15:00 OIL PRICE: NEAR $61 YET REUTERS - International Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were at $60.86 per barrel at 0543 GMT, up 66 cents, or 1.1 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $52.22 per barrel, up 57 cents, or 1.1 percent.

2018, December, 12, 09:10:00 RUSSIA WILL CUT 50 TBD PLATTS - Russia will cut its liquids output by 50,000-60,000 b/d in January under the latest agreement with OPEC, energy minister Alexander Novak said Tuesday. "The monthly schedule for the output cut has already been [set]... We expect output will be cut by at least 50,000 b/d-60,000 b/d in January," he said, as reported by Prime news agency. Русский | English

2018, December, 11, 14:38:10 АЛЕКСАНДР НОВАК В ИНТЕРВЬЮ CNN: “НАШИ РЕШЕНИЯ ОСНОВАНЫ НА ФУНДАМЕНТАЛЬНЫХ ФАКТОРАХ РЫНКА” МИНЭНЕРГО РОССИИ - Как отметил Александр Новак, принятое решение о снижении суммарной добычи на 1,2 млн барр./сутки отражает ожидания рынка накануне встречи стран ОПЕК и не ОПЕК. As noted by Alexander Novak, the decision to reduce the total production by 1.2 million barrels per day reflects the market expectations on the eve of the meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC countries. Русский | English

2018, December, 10, 09:00:00 OIL PRICE: NEAR $62 ANEW PLATTS - At 11:00 am Singapore time (0300 GMT), ICE February Brent crude futures were up 43 cents/b (0.7%) from Friday's settle at $62.10/b, while the NYMEX January light sweet crude contract inched 2 cents/b (0.04%) lower to $52.59/b.

2018, December, 10, 08:55:00 OIL PRODUCTION DOWN 1.2 MBD OPEC - Accordingly, the 5th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, following deliberations on the immediate oil market prospects and in view of a growing imbalance between global oil supply and demand in 2019, hereby decided to adjust the overall production by 1.2 mb/d, effective as of January 2019 for an initial period of six months. The contributions from OPEC and the voluntary contributions from non-OPEC participating countries of the ‘Declaration of Cooperation’ will correspond to 0.8 mb/d (2.5%), and 0.4 mb/d (2.0%), respectively. Русский | English

2018, December, 10, 07:55:00 АЛЕКСАНДР НОВАК: “МЫ ПРИВЕРЖЕНЫ ДОГОВОРЕННОСТЯМ, И РЫНОК ЭТО ЦЕНИТ” “Было принято решение с 1 января сократить суммарно добычу на 1,2 млн барр в сутки, из них 800 тыс. возьмут на себя страны ОПЕК. Россия также примет участие в этом. Для нас это означает, что по отношению к октябрю 2018 года мы должны будем сократить производство на 2% или 220 тыс баррелей, это будет происходить постепенно”, - подчеркнул Министр.

2018, December, 10, 07:50:00 ALEXANDER NOVAK: “THE COOPERATION OF OPEC COUNTRIES + MUST CONTINUE” Министр энергетики Российской Федерации Александр Новак в интервью телеканалу “Bloomberg”, которое состоялось по окончании 5-й Министерской встречи стран ОПЕК и не входящих в ОПЕК государств, рассказал о принятых решениях и их влиянии на рынок, разговоре с Министром нефти Ирана Бижаном Намдар Зангане накануне заседания, а также поделился прогнозами цен на нефть в будущем. Русский | English