Yahoo Finance Crude Prices Settle Higher amid Rising Middle East Tensions
Investing.com – Crude oil prices settled higher on Monday, as investors weighed the prospect of supply disruptions amid rising Middle East tensions while growing expectations of a ramp up in U.S. crude output capped upside momentum.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude futures for December delivery rose 2 cents to settle at $56.76 a barrel, while on London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent lost 32 cents to trade at $63.20 a barrel.
Crude oil prices traded in a narrow range on Monday as investors weighed the prospect of supply disruption in the Middle East supporting a further rally in crude prices against expectations that U.S. producers will ramp up output.
Middle East tensions grew over the weekend, fueling expectations of supply disruptions in the region after Bahrain said Iran was behind an explosion to its main oil pipeline. Supply was restored, however, as Saudi Aramco said Monday that it fully resumed pumping crude oil to Bahrain.
That come amid signs of rising U.S. production after the Baker Hughes reported Friday that the number of oil rigs operating in the US rose by 9 to 738, the highest in almost a month.
Despite expectations for uptick in U.S. output, traders remained confident that Opec's output curbs would continue to support upside momentum in crude prices ahead of the upcoming Nov, 30 Opec meeting, at which it’s widely expected that Opec will extend its global accord on production cuts beyond March.
In May, Opec producers agreed to extend production cuts for a period of nine months until March, but stuck to production cuts of 1.2 million bpd agreed in November last year.
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