(Repeats to change to UPDATE 8 from UPDATE 7, no other changes
to headline of text)
* U.S. oil price reaches high above $37 in thin trade
* UAE follows OPEC deal with cuts to customers
* Expectations of slowing energy demand weigh
(Updates throughout)
By Rebekah Kebede
NEW YORK, Dec 26 (Reuters) - Oil climbed in thin
post-holiday trade on Friday after the United Arab Emirates
said they will deepen supply cuts in line with OPEC's
biggest-ever output cut announced last week.
U.S. crude <CLc1> gained 82 cents to $36.17 a barrel by
2:06 p.m. EST (1906 GMT), after reaching a session high of
$37.27.
London Brent <LCOc1> rose 40 cents to $37.01.
"The only positive news (for the market) ... came from the
UAE," Olivier Jakob of Petromatrix wrote in a report. "For now
at least, Saudi Arabia and the UAE seem to be fully complying
with the cuts."
Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC), the main producer in the
UAE, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, said it would cut
February supplies of Murban and Upper Zakum by 15 percent and
Lower Zakum and Umm Shaif by 10 percent each. []
A source with an Asian refiner said the ADNOC cuts were
more than expected.
"ADNOC had already allocated January volumes, but they
reversed the decision, so that messes up our schedule," the
source said. "For February, the reduction volumes are very
large, so we may need to adjust our ship loadings."
The allocations follow a decision last week by the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to reduce
supplies by 2.2 million barrels per day.
Top exporter Saudi Arabia informed its customers even
before the OPEC meeting they would be receiving less oil.
The OPEC reduction is its deepest ever as the producer
group battles a market slump that has sliced more than $110 off
the price since a July peak above $147 a barrel.
Oil prices were also supported by thin trading volume on
Friday after oil markets were closed on Thursday for
Christmas.
On Wednesday, U.S. crude settled more than $3 lower after
government data showed jobless claims in the United States, the
world's biggest oil burner, had risen to a 26-year high and
that consumers had cut spending for the fifth consecutive month
in November.
Asian economies, once seen as a guarantee of high oil
demand even if the United States faltered, have not escaped.
Deepening recession is expected to cut oil demand in Japan,
the world's third biggest oil consumer after the United States
and China, by almost 5 percent in the year starting April.
Consumption was also seen sliding by 5.7 percent in the
fiscal year ending next March, the Institute of Energy
Economics, Japan, said this week. []
(Additional reporting by Barbara Lewis in London and Osamu
Tsukimori in Tokyo; Editing by Christian Wiessner)
