Tokyo — Oil prices held steady on Monday as investors gauged whether an increase in US drilling rigs and record stockpiles would undermine efforts by producers to cut output and bring the market into balance. Brent futures were down 5c at $55.75 a barrel at 2.45am GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was unchanged at $53.40. Both contracts earlier rose slightly in quiet trading. "Sustained gains above $55 a barrel, and a hoped for rally to $60 a barrel, [are] both proving incredibly tough nuts to crack," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at futures brokerage Oanda in Singapore. "At the crux of the matter is that 90% Opec compliance is being balanced by ever increasing US shale production," he added. US energy companies added oil rigs for a fifth consecutive week, Baker Hughes said on Friday, extending a nine-month recovery with producers encouraged by higher crude prices, which have traded mostly more than $50 a barrel since late November. Oil cartel Opec and o...
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