Oil edged higher on dollar weakness, prospects of tighter market

The moderate weakness in the US dollar in Asia pushed oil benchmarks higher on both sides of the Atlantic. 

At the time of writing, Brent oil was up 41 cents or 0.74% at $55.73/barrel. WTI was up 60 cents or 1.11% at $53.50/barrel. Meanwhile, the Dollar index was down 0.30% at 102.64 levels. 

Experts said the bullish tone in oil is also due to expectations of a tighter market in 2017. 

However, gains are somewhat capped due to the bearish US oil rig count data released on Friday. Drillers added 12 oil rigs in the week ended Dec. 16, bringing the total count to 510, the highest since January, Baker Hughes data showed on Friday.