Brent crude edges down after rising above $49 a barrel

Crude oil booked a small loss today following a seven-day rally as rising production from members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) weighs on prices.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, was trading 0.04 per cent lower at $48.75 a barrel.

Prices rose to $49 per barrel earlier in the day after data suggested US output is slowing.

On Friday, data from US energy services firm Baker Hughes revealed drilling activity for new oil production dropped by two rigs. Meanwhile, data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude output fell in April for the first time this year.

"The drop in oil rigs reported by Baker Hughes on Friday – only the second this year – appeared to be supporting oil earlier in the session, but this soon petered out as profit taking set in," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.

"With losses currently only small in oil, there may be more upside to come in days ahead, despite sentiment having previously been extremely bearish."

Oil prices are still down around 14 per cent for the year so far despite Opec's deal to cut production until March 2018 to prop up prices.

In June, Opec production was up by 280,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to a Reuters survey, mainly due to rising output in Nigeria and Libya, which are exempt from the cuts.

Production in Libya has climbed to more than 1m barrels per day for the first time in four years, according to Bloomberg.

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