Crude oil prices are moving in a tight range around the unchanged line on Friday, with traders weighing demand and supply prospects in the coming year.
With the ECB projecting a slowdown in eurozone growth next year and the latest batch of economic data from China, Germany and Eurozone turning out to be quite disappointing, the likelihood of a drop in near term energy demand has increased.
Crude futures for January delivery are down $0.26, or 0.5%, at 52.32 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
A report from International Energy Agency on Thursday said that total global oil supply in November fell by 360,000 barrels a day on month, as a result of outages in the North Sea and Canada, as well as a decline in Russian output.
The Agency expects oil demand growth next year to remain unchanged at 1.4 million barrels a day, but expects supply deficit in the second quarter of the year. In November, the agency had predicted a surplus for the entire year.
On Thursday, crude oil futures ended up $1.43, or 2.8%, at $52.58 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, bolstered by reports that Saudi Aramco, the state-controlled oil giant of Saudi Arabia, has warned U.S. refiners to prepare for a sharp reduction in cargoes in the coming month.
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