Oil prices edge up on market caution over OPEC cuts

Oil prices are edging up in Asia on Monday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said it was near its target of cutting 1.8 million barrels of crude oil a day, two months after committing to the deal. 

Early in Asia, benchmark U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures were 0.1 percent higher at $53.27 a barrel while international benchmark Brent crude oil futures were also up 0.1 percent at $55.53 a barrel, reflecting caution even after the OPEC statement. 

Vanda Insights founder Vandana Hari told CNBC's The Rundown said it was still early days at just a fortnight after the implementation of the cuts. A better gauge of their impact would be the full production and export data for January. 

Hari's comments came as U.S. energy companies last week added the most rigs drilling for new production in almost four years, energy services firm Baker Hughes data showed on Friday. Drillers added 29 rigs in the week to January 20, bringing the total count up to 551, the most since November 2015, it said. 

U.S. oil production has risen over 6 percent since mid-2016. Even though they are 7 percent below their historic 2015 peak, they are back to levels of late 2014 amid the crash in oil prices that started in the summer of the same year, according to Reuters data. 

"Shale remains a very real danger in terms of its resurgence and what that does to OPEC's plan to keep prices in the $50-$60 a barrel band," said Hari. 

Oil prices have risen about 20 percent since OPEC committed to an output cut but most of it has been sentiment-driven, a CNBC survey of strategists and forecasters showed as respondents warned of a stall in a the price rally should producers not deliver on the pledged supply cuts. -- CNBC

Source :NNA