Oil prices fall on stronger dollar and further oversupply worries

By Keith Wallis
SINGAPORE, April 1 (Reuters) - Oil futures eased in early
Asian trade on Friday as oversupply and a strengthening dollar
weighed on sentiment, although data showing another fall in U.S.
oil output in January offered support.
Front month U.S. crude futures CLc1 dropped 18 cents to
$38.16 as of 0001 GMT after settling up 2 cents in the previous
session.
The benchmark rose 4 percent between January and March, its
biggest quarterly gain since June 2015.
Brent crude for June delivery LCOc1 fell 19 cents to
$40.14 a barrel. The May contract, which expired on Thursday,
settled up 34 cents at $39.60 a barrel.
The dollar index .DXY rose in early trading in Friday,
rebounding from a mid-October low hit in the previous session.
A stronger greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities
including oil more expensive for holders of other currencies.
U.S. crude oil production fell by 56,000 barrels per day to
9.179 million bpd in January, according to monthly data from the
U.S. Energy Information Administration released on Thursday.

That was the fourth straight month U.S. domestic oil
production had fallen and the lowest output level since October
2014, according to EIA data.
Economists and oil analysts polled by Reuters raised their
average price forecasts for 2016 for the first time in 10
months, but cautioned that investor concerns over global
oversupply, softening demand and weakening economic outlook
could weigh on prices.
Analysts said U.S. crude futures would average $39.70 a
barrel in 2016, compared with an average of about $33.50 so far
this year.
Brent futures would average $40.90 a barrel the survey of 31
pundits showed, against the current average of $35 for the year.
Imports of Iranian crude by Asia's four biggest buyers
jumped by 24.6 percent to 1.27 million barrels per day (bpd)
from a year earlier to hit a two-year high in February, figures
published on Thursday showed.
India showed the biggest increase in Iranian imports with a
111 percent rise to 215,800 bpd in February, from 102,000 bpd in
the same month last year.
Investors are eyeing a slew of economic data including
manufacturing PMI data from China and Europe and U.S. nonfarm
payroll figures later on Friday to give direction to oil prices.