SEOUL: Oil traded near $69 a barrel on signs of increased drilling by American producers and investor optimism that Saudi Arabia and Russia will fill in potential supply losses from Iran.Futures were little changed in New York, after gaining 0.6 percent on Friday. Shale explorers added last week the most oil rigs in a month as a pipeline bottleneck in the busy U.S. Permian Basin is encouraging drilling in other areas. Speculation has also been swirling over whether a potential supply gap can be filled as American sanctions curb Iran’s oil exports. Total volume traded was about 52 percent below the 100-day average.Brent for November settlement traded at $77.98 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange, down 11 cents. The global benchmark crude traded at a $9.28 premium to WTI for the same month.

Source: The Star September 17, 2018 04:18 UTC