Oil prices hit fresh highs

Reuters

Singapore

Oil prices edged to new 2016 highs on Friday, lifted by a weak dollar and falling production in the United States, although a looming rise in Middle East output capped gains.

Brent crude futures were trading at $48.30 a barrel at 0644 GMT, up 31 cents from their last close.  U.S. crude was up 24 cents at $46.27 a barrel, with both contracts hitting fresh 2016 highs.

"The market is coming into better balance and we maintain the view that the current oversupply will flip into undersupply in 2H," investment bank Jefferies said. "Global spare capacity is now 2 million barrels per day(bpd), or about 2 percent of global demand. Brent and WTI have risen by almost a third from April troughs and are up over 75 percent above their 2016 lows, lifted by falling output and a weakening dollar, which has dropped more than 6 percent against a basket of other leading currencies this year.