Oil gains ground for second session, dollar falls on profit-taking

Oil futures rose in American trade, with US crude off June 21 lows, while Brent rebounded from April 10 lows, with prices still heading for the third weekly decline in a row, while the dollar index fell off June 27, 2017 highs on active profit-taking, following earlier data from the US, the world's largest energy consumer. 

As of 04:43 GMT, US crude futures due in September rose 0.47% to $65.77 a barrel, while Brent October futures rose 0.45% to $71.75 a barrel, as the dollar index dropped 0.40% to 96.25 away from 14-month highs. 

Surprise Buildup 

On Wednesday, the Energy Information Administration released its report on US crude stocks, showing a buildup of 6.8 million barrels in the week ending August 10, compared to a 1.4 million drawdown in the previous week, while analysts expected a 2.6 million drop, with total stocks now up to 414.2 million barrels, making them 1% above five-year averages. 

Gasoline stocks fell 0.7 million barrels, still 5% above averages, while distillate stocks, including heating fuel, rose 3.6 million barrels, still 8% below averages. 

US Consumer Data 

The University of Michigan released its consumer sentiment survey for August, showing an unexpected drop to 95.3 from 97.9 in July, while analysts estimated 98.1. 

An index that combines 10 different economic indicators into a single one rose 0.6% in July, up from 0.5% in June, and beating estimates of 0.4%.  

Otherwise, the Wall Street Journal reported that US and Chinese officials are meeting for new trade negotiations on August 22-23 in an attempt to halt a developing trade war between the world's two largest economy and highest consumers of oil. 

US Oil Rig Count 

Last Friday, Baker Hughes, a US oil services company, reported an increase of 10 in the rig count to a total of 869 rigs, the first increase in three weeks.

US output is up to 10.90 million bpd, while Saudi Arabia's output fell to 10.29 million bpd, as Russian output steadied at 11.21 million bpd.