Oil falls on profit taking

Investing.com - Oil futures traded lower in the early part of Friday’s Asian session as traders looked to book profits after crude turned in a solid performance during Thursday’s U.S. session.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for June delivery fell 0.32% to USD93.34 per barrel in Asian trading Friday after settling up 1.07% at USD92.41 a barrel on Thursday. That was crude’s highest settling price in New York in two weeks,

Traders had reason to bet on oil from the long side Thursday following some decent jobs data. In U.S. economic news, the U.S. Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 16,000 to 339,000 last week. The previous week’s number was revised up to 355,000 from 352,000. The less volatile four-week moving average fell by 4,500 to 357,500.

Earnings catalyst were also abound Thursday for oil traders. Exxon Mobil, the largest U.S. oil company, said oil and natural gas liquids output rose 2% in the first quarter. ConocoPhillips, the largest U.S. independent oil company, said its output at the Bakken Shale in North Dakota and Texas' Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale surged 42%.

Occidental Petroleum, the fourth-larges U.S. oil company, its U.S. oil and gas production climbed to a record 478,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first quarter, though most of that production was natural gas.

Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil, reports its first-quarter results Friday before the open of U.S. markets.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported Wednesday that U.S. crude oil inventories rose by 947,000 barrels last week, well below market calls for a gain of 1.513 million barrels.

Elsewhere, Brent futures for June delivery fell 0.12% to USD103.01 per barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange.