Crude oil futures hold steady near 2015 highs

Oil futures hovered around 2015-highs on Friday after posting their biggest monthly gains for six years in April, with trading thin as major markets were closed for the May Day holiday.

The two global benchmarks for crude rose between 20 and 25 percent in April, helped by a weaker dollar and bets that a supply glut would ease, following the June-to-January selloff that halved prices from highs above $100 a barrel.

“Prices (are) now looking to have firmly broken out of the trading range of the past 14 weeks,” ANZ bank said on Friday.

Brent was down 5 cents at $66.73 a barrel by 0528 GMT. It rose to a 2015-peak of $66.93 on Thursday and increased 21 percent in April.

U.S. crude was up 8 cents at $59.69, after hitting a 2015-high of $59.85 in post-settlement trading on Thursday. It gained 25 percent last month.

Prices were steady even after a Reuters survey showed OPEC oil supply in April rose to its highest in more than two years to 31.04 million barrels a day.

Prices were also buoyed by higher Nigerian exports and a further small gain in Libyan production despite unrest there.

Saudi Arabia, the biggest exporter, kept output near a record high in April, sources in the survey said.