U.S. oil prices edge up on Paris attack tensions, but market remains oversupplied

By Henning Gloystein
SINGAPORE, Nov 17 (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil prices edged up
in early trading in Asia on Tuesday, lifting it further away
from over two-months lows seen last week, as traders price in a
risk premium following the Paris attacks and the resulting
French airstrikes in Syria.
Despite the lift, analysts said that prices would likely
remain at low levels as oil markets remain oversupplied, with
most estimates for 2015 ranging from production outpacing demand
by 0.7-2.5 million barrels per day, and many speculators have
positioned themselves for further price falls.
Front-month U.S. crude futures CLc1 were trading at $41.87
a barrel at 0032 GMT, up 14 cents from their last close and
$1.13 a barrel above last week's more than two-month low.
"Oil prices are likely to remain volatile amid rising
geopolitical tension post the Paris attack," ANZ bank said on
Tuesday, but added that "the upside in prices is limited as
Syria's oil output is less than 25,000 barrels a day, and the
market is heavily oversupplied."
Money managers cut their net long U.S. crude futures and
options positions to the lowest in three months during the week
to November 10, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission
(CFTC) said on Monday.
The speculator group cut its combined futures and options
position in New York and London by 27,456 contracts to 127,351
during the period. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nEMN2OGNQR
The cut in bets on higher rises has come in parallel to
soaring amounts of contracts actively betting on a further fall
in oil prices. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1381HJ

DATA/EVENTS
* The following data is expected on Tuesday (GMT):
1000 Germany ZEW economic sentiment Nov
1330 U.S. Consumer prices Oct
1415 U.S. Industrial output Oct
1500 U.S. NAHB housing market index Nov

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(Editing by Michael Perry)