Oil Prices Steady as U.S. Dollar Index Eases


   
Karim Bastati
Contributing Analyst

   VIENNA (DTN) -- Oil prices steadied Thursday (11/6) 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 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.

   This 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 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.

    




(c) Copyright 2025 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.