Crude-oil futures traded flat as some traders unwounded bullish positions ahead of the long Christmas weekend, while supply concerns amid increasing militant attacks on ships in the Red Sea provided underlying support to the petroleum market.

At 11:45 a.m. EST on Friday, February NYMEX West Texas Intermediate crude futures edged higher by about 10cts to $74/bbl, and March WTI inched up 5cts to $74.10/bbl.

Earlier in the session, WTI futures had traded more than $1/bbl higher, with those gains largely fizzling in midmorning trading.

London-based ICE Brent crude for February delivery was 10cts lower to $79.30/bbl and March Brent slipped 10cts to $79.05/bbl.

For the week, WTI is still poised to rack up gains of $2-3/bbl, and Brent is on track to increase more than $3/bbl.

An announcement by African oil producer Angola to exit OPEC also led to some profit-taking. Angolan oil minister Diamantino Azevedo on Thursday said membership in OPEC no longer served the country's interest.

Key shipping companies as well as oil majors including BP and Equinor announced this week they were avoiding the Red Sea due to attacks by the Houthi militant group, which said its actions are a response to Israel's attacks in Gaza. On Friday, shippers including Maersk said they would impose extra charges related to re-routing ships.

In the spot market, Los Angeles physical CARBOB gasoline premiums jumped more than 30cts, a day after San Francisco also posted a similar rally. The latest California Energy Commission data showed refinery production of California's boutique gasoline fell last week, which could be a sign of unplanned refinery outages.

This content was created by Oil Price Information Service, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. OPIS is run independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

Reporting by Frank Tang, ftang@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly, mkelly@opisnet.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 22, 2023 12:21 ET (17:21 GMT)