Rising US rig count knocks oil, but prices remain near three-year highs
London — Oil fell on Monday after a rising rig count in the US suggested the shale boom is showing no signs of slowing, but prices remain near their highest in more than three years and are set for a second straight month of gains. The prospect of the US re-imposing sanctions on Iran and oil cartel Opec’s continued discipline in withholding output have kept the market well above $70 a barrel for most of this month. Brent crude futures were down 88c at $74.76 a barrel by 11.08am GMT. The price rose to $75.47 last week, the highest since November 2014. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures fell 78c from their last close to $67.32 a barrel. "Generally, [the rig count] took the edge off an otherwise bullish market," said SEB chief analyst for commodities Bjarne Schieldrop. "On top of that [producers] are already drilling more than they can complete and adding on more rigs. So shale is booming and it’s still heating up. That is hard to digest for a bull." US drillers added five oil ri...
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