Investing.com – Oil prices picked up on Wednesday morning in Asia, despite the U.S., Russia and Saudi Arabia pledging to raise crude output just days before sanctions against Iran take effect.
Crude Oil WTI Futures for December delivery inched up 0.39% to $66.44 per barrel by 10:34PM ET (02:34 GMT) on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent Oil Futures for January 2019 delivery climbed 0.59% to $76.4 a barrel on London’s Intercontinental Exchange.
The U.S. is set to become a key source of energy supplies to meet growing global crude demand with innovation in technology and financing likely to boost oil and gas production over the next decade, according to a Reuters report that quoted Frank Fannon a top U.S. energy diplomat.
“In the next five to 10 years, we expect to see improved recovery rates and even a doubling in some of our most prolific [gas] basins. What this means in the near-term is that the U.S. may double production, double export capacity and introduce new market innovations,” Fannon said.
Major oil producers Saudi Arabia and Russia also pledged to raise oil output to offset the drop in Iranian exports that may result from U.S. crude sanctions that start next week. Iran’s oil exports fell by about a third in the five months to September, tumbling by about 800,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to CNBC. The report also showed that a tanker-tracking firm estimated Iran’s losses in October at 100,000 bpd.
On Tuesday, the executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, warned that high oil prices hurt consumers and could harm producers.
“Many countries’ current account deficits have been affected by high oil prices. There are two downward pressures on global oil demand growth. One is high oil prices, and in many countries, they’re directly related to consumer prices. The second one is global economic growth momentum slowing down,” Reuters quoted Birol as saying.
U.S. crude inventories data is due to be released on Wednesday.
The market is also impacted by the U.S.-China trade war. U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to slap tariffs on remaining $257 billion worth of Chinese exports depending on the outcome of a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in November.