Investing.com - Global oil production levels will stay at the forefront of the crude market in the week ahead, after futures ended lower last week, pressured by signs of rising output from Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Saudi Arabia told OPEC it raised oil output by almost 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) last month to 10.5 million bpd, as the kingdom sought to cap rallying prices by ramping up output, according to people familiar with the matter.
The world's top oil exporter and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Country's (OPEC) biggest producer pledged last month it would raise output to make up for lost supplies out of Libya, Venezuela and Iran.
The Saudis’ pledges don’t seem to have satisfied U.S. President Donald Trump, who resumed attacks on OPEC on Twitter last week for failing to moderate prices.
Iran's oil minister on Saturday accused Trump of insulting OPEC by ordering it to increase production and reduce prices, adding that Iranian output and exports had not changed as a result of U.S. pressure.
The Trump administration is pushing countries to cut all imports of Iranian oil from November when the U.S. reimposes sanctions against Tehran, after Trump withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal agreed between Iran and six major powers.
Elsewhere, U.S. oil production also continued at a record pace of 10.9 million bpd last week, a level first reached late last month.
U.S. energy companies added five oil rigs in the week to July 6, bringing the total count to 863, Baker Hughes said in its closely followed report on Friday. That was the first increase in three weeks.
The U.S. rig count, an early indicator of future output, is much higher than a year ago when 763 rigs were active as energy companies have been ramping up production in tandem with OPEC's past efforts to cut global output over the past year-and-a-half.
Fresh weekly data on U.S. commercial crude inventories on Tuesday and Wednesday to gauge the strength of demand in the world’s largest oil consumer and how fast output levels will continue to rise will capture the market's attention.
U.S. and global oil benchmarks finished on a mixed note Friday, with both booking their first weekly losses in three weeks amid signs of rising crude supplies.
U.S. benchmark oil, August West Texas Intermediate crude rose 86 cents, or around 1.2%, to settle at $73.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Elsewhere, September Brent crude, the global benchmark, shed 28 cents, or about 0.4%, to end at $77.11 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.
For the week, WTI oil shed 0.5%, while Brent saw a weekly slide of 2.9%. The moves follow two consecutive weeks of gains for both contracts.
Ahead of the coming week, Investing.com has compiled a list of the main events likely to affect the oil market.
Tuesday, July 10
The American Petroleum Institute is to publish its weekly report on U.S. oil supplies.
Wednesday, July 11
The U.S. Energy Information Administration will release its weekly report on oil stockpiles.
Friday, July 13
Baker Hughes will release weekly data on the U.S. oil rig count.