DTN Oil Update
Oil Prices Steady as US Dollar Index Eases
VIENNA (DTN) -- Oil prices steadied Thursday morning as crude benchmarks met technical resistance levels and the U.S. Dollar Index retreated from recent highs.
The NYMEX WTI contract for December delivery rose $0.10 to $59.70 barrel (bbl), and ICE Brent for January delivery gained $0.11 to $63.63 bbl.
December RBOB gasoline futures advanced $0.0337 to $1.9430 gallon, and front-month ULSD futures jumped $0.0736 to $2.5061 gallon.
The U.S. Dollar Index softened by 0.429 points to 99.63 against a basket of foreign currencies.
Thurday morning's action in oil futures represents a technical steadying rather than any change in market sentiment, which remains bearish.
The latest warning sign of weak demand growth came on Wednesday with Saudi Aramco releasing official selling prices for December deliveries. Arab Light deliveries to Asia were cut by $1.2 bbl from November to a $1 bbl premium over Dubai/Oman, while medium and heavy grades were slashed by $1.4 bbl.
The largely anticipated cut in Saudi OSP was likely a reflection of an already well-supplied Asian market as the region's main crude suppliers have drastically ramped up output this year amid less-than-stellar demand growth.
On Sunday, the eight OPEC+ countries that since April together have unwound some 2.9 million barrels per day (bpd) in production cuts, agreed to another 137,000-bpd output increase in December.
However, the eight also agreed to pause further hikes in the first quarter of 2026 in what was seen as a concession to the broader market consensus of a looming crude oil glut as demand growth remains well below OPEC's expectations.
P[L1] D[0x0] M[300x250] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]