Crude oil futures were lower during mid-morning trade in Asia Friday after an overnight rally amid mild profit-taking.
At 10:50 am Singapore time (0250 GMT), February ICE Brent crude futures were down 45 cents/b (0.73%) from Thursday's settle at $61/b, while the NYMEX January light sweet crude contract was 22 cents/b (0.42%) lower at $52.36/b
Both benchmark contracts rose by more than $1/b during Thursday's trading session following news of lower Saudi Arabian crude exports to US.
"Volatility in crude prices has become a trend now," Janu Chan, senior economist at St. George Bank, said.
"Increased risk sentiment amid ongoing trade tensions between the US and China, coupled with some mild profit-taking is weighing on prices," she added.
The International Energy Agency in its monthly oil market report released Thursday raised its estimates for the call on OPEC crude to 31.4 million b/d in the first quarter of 2019 and 31.8 million b/d in Q2, up 700,000 b/d and 500,000 b/d, respectively, from its estimates last month.
The IEA cut its estimate of non-OPEC production growth next year by 415,000 b/d to 1.5 million b/d, largely on the back of Russia's expected cuts as agreed with OPEC last week in Vienna.
The reduction in crude production agreed by OPEC and its partners, together with separate cuts ordered by the Canadian province of Alberta, may help in restoring balance in the world market, the IEA said.
"The oil market is currently influenced primarily by supply-side factors and voluntary production cuts by OPEC and its allies," Commerzbank analysts said in a note.
"We expect most of the agreed production cuts to be implemented, which will eliminate the market oversupply during the course of the year and help Brent gain a foothold again," they added.
Investors will be looking out for the weekly US oil rig count data due for release by Baker Hughes later Friday for further price direction.
As of 0250 GMT, the US Dollar Index was up 0.06% at 97.13.
