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Singapore - Brent futures edged up towards $106 a barrel in Asia on Monday after Iran and six world powers failed to reach a deal on Tehran's nuclear programme, while data showed a slight rise in implied fuel demand in China.
Even though international powers seemed on the verge of a breakthrough with Iran, talks in Geneva at the weekend to ease international sanctions against Tehran in return for restraints on its nuclear programme ended without a deal.
"This just shows that it's going to take a while for any agreement to be reached," said Tony Nunan, an oil risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo. "Unless we see any breakthrough in talks, I don't expect a big impact on oil markets."
Brent was 47 cents higher at $105.59 per barrel at 09:42. The contract hit a four-month low on Friday and, despite rising to close the session up $1.66 per barrel, Brent ended with its fourth straight week of losses.
US crude was 17 cents higher at $94.77 per barrel, after closing up 40 cents on Friday.
While US lawmakers want to tighten sanctions on Iran, diplomats in Geneva said a deal was still possible. Negotiators will resume lower-level talks on November 20.
The sanctions have removed more than 1 million barrels per day of oil from world markets, and any increase in supply from Iran could push oil prices lower, analysts say.
China fuel demand
A surprise increase in US job data on Friday, which strengthened the dollar as well as the possibility that US stimulus could be pared sooner, weighed on most commodities including the domestic crude contract.
China's implied oil demand inched up 0.3% in October from a year earlier, after dipping the previous month, the first yearly decline in 17 months.
Fuel demand in China, the world's top net oil importer, was about 9.79 million barrels per day last month, according to Reuters calculations based on preliminary government data. That compares to 9.76 million bpd a year ago and is up 1.9% from 9.61 million bpd in September.
The improvement came as official data at the end of last week suggested China's economy had found its footing after a protracted slowdown, with factory activity growing faster than expected and a rebound in exports also stronger than the market had thought.
China's crude oil imports in October dropped to a 13-month low, coming off record high purchases in September, official data showed. The drop was probably due to overhauls at two major refineries.
"The latest import numbers we've seen from China are at the mid-to-low end of expectations. They don't indicate a big pick-up in demand," said Alex Yap, an oil market analyst at the FGE consultancy.
News that Saudi Arabia had cut its crude output in October to 9.75 million barrels per day from 10.1 million in September also helped support prices.
In Libya, tensions seemed to worsen after an autonomy movement in the eastern part of the country said on Sunday it had formed a regional oil firm to start selling crude after seizing several ports.
The move deals a blow to efforts by Prime Minister Ali Zeidan to reopen oil ports and fields seized by a mix of militias, tribes and civil servants seeking political rights or higher pay.
On Friday, protesters at the eastern port of Hariga prevented a tanker from loading 600 000 barrels of oil headed for Italy.
Kuwait's oil minister, Mustapha al-Shamali, said on Saturday he expected OPEC to keep its crude oil output target unchanged at its next meeting.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which pumps more than a third of the world's oil, will meet on December 4 in Vienna to decide whether to adjust its output target.
Even though international powers seemed on the verge of a breakthrough with Iran, talks in Geneva at the weekend to ease international sanctions against Tehran in return for restraints on its nuclear programme ended without a deal.
"This just shows that it's going to take a while for any agreement to be reached," said Tony Nunan, an oil risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp in Tokyo. "Unless we see any breakthrough in talks, I don't expect a big impact on oil markets."
Brent was 47 cents higher at $105.59 per barrel at 09:42. The contract hit a four-month low on Friday and, despite rising to close the session up $1.66 per barrel, Brent ended with its fourth straight week of losses.
US crude was 17 cents higher at $94.77 per barrel, after closing up 40 cents on Friday.
While US lawmakers want to tighten sanctions on Iran, diplomats in Geneva said a deal was still possible. Negotiators will resume lower-level talks on November 20.
The sanctions have removed more than 1 million barrels per day of oil from world markets, and any increase in supply from Iran could push oil prices lower, analysts say.
China fuel demand
A surprise increase in US job data on Friday, which strengthened the dollar as well as the possibility that US stimulus could be pared sooner, weighed on most commodities including the domestic crude contract.
China's implied oil demand inched up 0.3% in October from a year earlier, after dipping the previous month, the first yearly decline in 17 months.
Fuel demand in China, the world's top net oil importer, was about 9.79 million barrels per day last month, according to Reuters calculations based on preliminary government data. That compares to 9.76 million bpd a year ago and is up 1.9% from 9.61 million bpd in September.
The improvement came as official data at the end of last week suggested China's economy had found its footing after a protracted slowdown, with factory activity growing faster than expected and a rebound in exports also stronger than the market had thought.
China's crude oil imports in October dropped to a 13-month low, coming off record high purchases in September, official data showed. The drop was probably due to overhauls at two major refineries.
"The latest import numbers we've seen from China are at the mid-to-low end of expectations. They don't indicate a big pick-up in demand," said Alex Yap, an oil market analyst at the FGE consultancy.
News that Saudi Arabia had cut its crude output in October to 9.75 million barrels per day from 10.1 million in September also helped support prices.
In Libya, tensions seemed to worsen after an autonomy movement in the eastern part of the country said on Sunday it had formed a regional oil firm to start selling crude after seizing several ports.
The move deals a blow to efforts by Prime Minister Ali Zeidan to reopen oil ports and fields seized by a mix of militias, tribes and civil servants seeking political rights or higher pay.
On Friday, protesters at the eastern port of Hariga prevented a tanker from loading 600 000 barrels of oil headed for Italy.
Kuwait's oil minister, Mustapha al-Shamali, said on Saturday he expected OPEC to keep its crude oil output target unchanged at its next meeting.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which pumps more than a third of the world's oil, will meet on December 4 in Vienna to decide whether to adjust its output target.
