Singapore — Crude oil futures were higher during mid-morning trade in Asia Monday amid higher US oil rig count data and continuing focus on looming US sanctions on Iranian crude.
At 10:35 am Singapore time (0235 GMT), ICE November Brent crude futures were up 45 cents/b (0.59%) from Friday's settle at $77.28/b, while the NYMEX October light sweet crude contract was up 36 cents/b (0.53%) at $68.11/b.
The US oil rig count fell by two to 860 last week as operations in the country?s most active play, Permian Basin, continued to slow as takeaway capacity approached its limit, weekly data released by Baker Hughes showed Friday.
"Prices are finding some support during the Asian morning session as a result of the bullish report on the US oil rig data," Philips Futures investment analyst Benjamin Lu said. "We can see some value buying this morning supported by US data," he added.
Market attention also remained on the impact of Iranian crude flows ahead of US sanctions snapping back in November, particularly on the two largest importers of Iranian crude, China and India, analysts said.
China's Iranian crude imports hit a monthly record 874,000 b/d in August, S&P Global Platts trade flow software cFlow showed, and analysts doubted they would rise further given how soon the sanctions will be re-imposed.
However China is expected to remain the biggest buyer of Iranian crude as Beijing has said business with Iran will run as normal despite US sanctions.
India, on the other hand, has committed to working with the US on reducing its Iranian crude imports ahead of the sanctions, but Washington continues to aim for zeroing out Tehrans's exports, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said late last week.
"Pompeo's comments were clear: While exceptions may be possible, all importers are expected to stop buying Iranian oil from November. We assume that New Delhi will bow to the pressure from Washington, so the supply situation in the oil market will remain tight," Commerzbank analysts said in a note.
Market participants will be watching US inventory data and OPEC's Monthly Oil Market Report that are due for release Wednesday for further cues.
"We can get a clearer direction on prices once the OPEC report is out," Lu said.
As of 0235 GMT, the US Dollar Index was up 0.05% at 95.41.
