- The outage of the Forties pipeline was also buoying crude prices, traders said.
- Traders said markets were overall well supported by efforts led by OPEC and Russia to withhold supply to prop up prices.
A pump jack operates at a well site leased by Devon Energy Production Co. near Guthrie, Oklahoma.Nick Oxford | Reuters
Oil prices remained little changed on Friday, lingering below two-year highs as the continuing outage of a North Sea pipeline and OPEC-led production cuts supported prices, while climbing U.S. output kept a lid on gains.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures ended Friday's session 26 cents higher at $57.30 a barrel.
Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $63.26 a barrel, down 5 cents from their previous close at 1:57 p.m. ET (1857 GMT).
"There's a fight in the market," said Gene McGillian, senior analyst at Tradition Energy in Stamford, Connecticut. Speculators have staked out long positions, betting that production cuts will continue to remove oversupply from the market, he said.
