By Oil prices were steady on Friday, sticking to ranges seen over the past three weeks, as investors looked for signs of changing supply and demand fundamentals.
A cut in Saudi Arabias oil supply and lower U.S. oil stocks helped offset price pressures from fuel demand, which is slowing due to stalled vaccine rollouts and contagious new coronavirus strains.
Were waiting for the next shoe to drop in the oil market. We really dont have much to move us around, said Michael McCarthy, chief strategist at CMC Markets.
Brent crude futures for March rose 4 cents, or 0.1, to 55.57 a barrel at 0520 GMT, after falling 0.5 in the previous session.
The Brent March contract expires on Friday. The more active April contract rose 13 cents, or 0.2, to 55.23.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate WTI crude futures slipped 7 cents to 52.27 a barrel, after falling 1.0 on Thursday.
Even the currency effects that have been an occasional driver of the market have dried up with the U.S. dollar also very stable at current levels, said McCarthy.
Saudi Arabia is set to cut output by 1 million barrels per day bpd in February and March, and compliance with output curbs by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, together called OPEC, has improved in January.
The Saudi cut effectively means OPEC supply cuts will rise from 7.2 million bpd in January to 8.125 million bpd in February, Commonwealth Bank analyst Vivek Dhar said.
The OPEC production strategy is still working and…
