Oil ends week on new high

The price of Brent shot to up a new 2016 high of $48.33 a barrel this morning, rising for a third straight day as a weaker dollar had investors shrugging off record high US crude inventories and relentless pumping by major producers.

A note from Goldman Sachs noted that while US domestic crude production continues to fall, Saudi Arabia’s oil output will edge up close to record highs in coming weeks to meet summer demand for power.

However, traders in Europe and Saudi-based industry sources say the rise is unlikely to be pushed to the limit and flood global markets.

Production may rise to around 10.5m bbl/day during summer, the sources said.

Supply in April has held steady to slightly lower at about 10.15m bbl/day, said three industry sources that monitor Saudi output.

In the meantime, ConocoPhillips is pulling some of its assets off the market as a prolonged industry downturn makes it harder to get the desired prices.

“We pulled some assets off the market where we’re not getting what we think is fair value for it, but there are a few more assets that we still have on the market that we’re hopeful around,” Chief Executive Officer Ryan Lance said on an earnings call on Thursday. “The market has softened quite a lot.”

The third-largest US oil producer is among a slew of drillers that have turned to asset sales and cost cuts to cope with crude prices 60% below their 2014 peak.

The company was considering the sale of Western Canadian assets estimated to be worth as much as C$1 billion ($792 million), people familiar with the matter said in February.

Reports also say the largest gasoline-producing region in the US is importing supplies as repair work at refineries slows fuel production ahead of the busiest driving season.

At least two vessels hauling gasoline will discharge into Gulf Coast storage tanks by the end of May. The deliveries come as regional outages in gasoline-producing capacity hit the highest seasonal level since at least 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.