Oil higher

Reuters

Singapore

U.S. oil prices closed at a 17-month high on Friday in quiet trade ahead of the Christmas and New Year holiday week, even though the gain was small, as the market waits to see how OPEC manages its planned output cuts with Libya expecting to boost production.

Despite the 17-month high in U.S. futures, prices were little changed on Friday in a market that closed early for the Christmas holiday. Brent LCOc1 futures gained 11 cents, or 0.2 percent, to settle at $55.16 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 gained seven cents, or 0.1 percent, to settle at $53.02, its highest close since July 2015. That topped the previous 17-month high close for WTI set last week by a nickel and was the front-month's sixth daily gain in a row, its longest winning streak since August.

It also put the WTI contract up for a fifth week in six, gaining about 22 percent since mid November, which traders said was mostly related to the OPEC production cut agreement.