Crude Oil Futures Edge Higher

Crude oil futures edged higher during mid-morning trade in Asia Friday amid bargain hunting after prices sank to near two-month low the day before, and were currently moving in a tight range awaiting fresh cues to provide direction, analysts said.
On Friday Brent December futures were up 22 cents per barrel (0.38%) from Thursday's settle at $57.93 per barrel, while the New York Mercantile Exchange November light sweet crude futures contract was 20% higher at $52.65 per barrel, S&P Global Platts reported.
"Crude has seen temporary bouts of bargain-hunting buying as prices hit two-month lows, and some extreme intraday volatility, which is befuddling to say the least," said Vandana Hari, founder Vanda Insights.
Prices touched fresh lows on Thursday after Saudi Arabia said it has restored crude production after attacks on facilities in September, wiping out the risk premium that crude prices had been carrying, analysts said.
The kingdom's wellhead crude production currently stands at 9.9 million bpd, while its production capacity has recovered to 11.3 million bpd, energy minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said.
"The [ongoing bearish] mood wasn't helped by news that Saudi Arabia has managed a speedy recovery from the recent attacks on its Abqaiq oil facility," analysts from ANZ Research team which provides market-leading insights on regional and global economies, financial and commodity markets said in a note Friday.
The energy minister also said he does not see the need for OPEC and non-OPEC partners to deepen their ongoing supply cut agreement, which provided some respite to prices, analysts said.