Commodities: US rig count, Iraqi output weigh on crude oil futures

Data showing continued increased US oil and gas exploration activity weighed on energy futures, more than offsetting a tailwind from a slight retreat in the US dollar.

According to Baker Hughes's latest weekly tally released on 6 January, US onshore oil rigs increased by four during the latest week to reach 529, which was 13 more than in the same week one year ago.

Those figures saw front month West Texas Intermediate trade lower by 3.0% to $52.42 a barrel as of 1823 GMT on Monday, while Brent lost 2.92% to change hands at $55.48.

Remarks to Bloomberg from Kuwait's OPEC governor, Nawal Al-Fezaia, that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait had were already implementing promised production cuts failed to boost oil futures.

Possibly muddying the waters, the newswire reported that Iraqi exports from its southern ports in the Gulf hit a record level in December.

Bloomberg's commodity index was off by 1.05% to 86.45 while the US dollar spot index was edging lower by 0.26% to trade at 101.95.

To take note of, traders apparently brushed off reports a US Navy destroyer had fired warning shots at four vessels from Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the Strait of Hormuz.

February 2017 NYMEX-traded natural gas futures fared even worse, falling 5.36% to $3.11/MMBtu, with those for heating oil down 3.06% to $1.6510 a gallon.

Gold futures on the other hand showed resilience in the face of the US dollar weakness, gaining 0.88% on COMEX to change hands at $1,183.70/oz..

Agricultural commodities were mixed, with March 2017 cocoa futures on ICE losing 3.89% to $2,173 a metric tonne while similarly-dated wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were up by $4.2575 per bushel.