* Nexen says to restart North Sea Buzzard output this
weekend
* S. Sudan to resume oil exports in 3 months
* Canada to U.S. oil pipeline shut for 3 days
* Coming up: U.S. CFTC commitment of traders data at 1930
GMT
By Florence Tan
SINGAPORE, Oct 19 (Reuters) – Brent crude held above $112 a
barrel on Friday, but remained on track for its third weekly
fall in five weeks as supply concerns diminished with the
imminent restart of Britain’s largest oilfield, although easing
worries about the global economic slowdown offered some support.
December Brent crude edged down 5 cents at $112.37 a
barrel by 0337 GMT, on course for a near 2-percent loss this
week. U.S. crude for December was down 9 cents at $92.01.
“We have enough supply. Short of any geopolitical or
economic shocks, the market will probably grind lower this
month,” said Jeremy Friesen, a commodities strategist at Societe
Generale in Hong Kong, adding that Brent would probably trade
between $110 and $115 a barrel this quarter.
Nexen, operator of Britain’s largest oilfield,
North Sea Buzzard, said it would resume output on Oct. 21,
increasing supply of crude underpinning the Brent contract.
Maintenance at the field had tightened supply, strengthening
prompt Brent prices and expanding the spread between the
European marker and U.S. crude to its widest in a
year.
African crude supply will also rise in the coming months as
South Sudan ordered oil companies to resume production on
Thursday. The country expects its oil exports to return to the
market in three months.
Oil prices got some support on Thursday, however, from a
shutdown at TransCanada Corp’s Keystone pipeline that
moves Canadian crude from Alberta to the central United States.
“The Keystone pipeline is expected back on line by the 20th,
so we’re watching how this will turn out,” said Ryoma Furumi, a
commodities sales manager at Newedge Japan.
A rise in unconventional oil supplies in the U.S. and Canada
is also weighing on the outlook for oil prices. Wall Street
giant Goldman Sachs has called an end to the oil price
super-cycle, reversing years of bullish recommendations, and cut
its 2013 Brent forecast to $110 a barrel from $130.
RISKY BUSINESS
But the risk of disruptions to crude supply from the Middle
East remains and easing concerns about a deepening slowdown in
global growth are also buoying prices.
Data from the United States, the world’s largest oil
consumer, pointed to a slowly healing labour market and rising
factory activity in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region during October.
China’s economy has also likely stabilised after posting the
slowest three months of growth since the depths of the financial
crisis.
Implied oil demand in China hit a record high in September
as refiners raised runs to meet peak seasonal consumption, but
the pace of annual demand growth in the world’s second biggest
oil consumer is at its slowest in more than a decade.
“We’ve kind of ebbed into a bearish China view, but the
market could change that view and that could be bullish for
oil,” Friesen said.
In the Middle East, European Union governments imposed
sanctions on Tuesday against major Iranian state companies in
the oil and gas industry, and strengthened restrictions on the
central bank, cranking up financial pressure on Tehran.
But Iran is believed to be further increasing its uranium
enrichment capacity, Western diplomats said, in another sign of
Tehran defying international demands to curb its disputed
nuclear programme.
(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Joseph Radford)
