Oil dipped below $53 a barrel as an increase in U.S. drilling countered a halt in some Libyan crude exports after clashes between armed factions. Futures slid as much as 1.1 percent in New York, erasing Friday’s 1.4 percent gain. Producers added more rigs to U.S. fields last week, extending a drilling surge into a 10th month, Baker Hughes Inc. said. Shipments from Es Sider, Libya’s largest oil port, and Ras Lanuf, its third-biggest, have been suspended until security improves and workers return, according to National Oil Corp. Oil has fluctuated as investors assess whether U.S. output and inventory gains will hurt efforts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other nations to ease a glut. American production has risen to the highest in almost a year, while Saudi oil supply fell by 90,000 barrels a day in February from a month earlier. In Libya, the Benghazi Defense Brigades militia seized the Es Sider terminal Friday, people with knowledge of the matter said. “The latest shut-in in Libyan production is only a bit more than the amount we see being added in the U.S. every couple of weeks,” said Ole Sloth Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S. “But the failure to move higher could also be an indication of a short-term change in sentiment as non-performing, or even loss-making, longs are finally reduced.” Hedge funds trimmed their net-long positions on West Texas Intermediate, or the difference between bets on a price increase and wagers on a decline, by 6.5 percent in the week ended Feb. 28, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Price Decline WTI for April delivery dropped as much as 57 cents to $52.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was at $53.09 as of 1 p.m. London time. Volume traded was about 29 percent below the 100-day average. The contract gained 72 cents to $53.33 on Friday. Prices averaged $53.46 last month. Brent for May settlement lost as much as 58 cents, or 1 percent, to $55.32 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, having risen 1.5 percent on Friday. The global benchmark traded at a premium of $2.11 to May WTI. Oil-market news:
  • Rigs targeting crude in the U.S. rose by seven to 609 last week, according to data Friday from Baker Hughes. That’s the most since October 2015. Companies have put 84 rigs back to work since the start of the year.
  • Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said oil demand is poised to overtake supply, leading inventories in developed nations to subside to normal levels more quickly than the bank previously expected.
  • A majority of oil sector workers in Gabon agreed to go ahead with a general strike, the ONEP union said in a statement March 5.