2022-11-25 11:00:00
OIL PRICE: BRENT BELOW $86, WTI ABOVE $78
REUTERS - Nov 25 - Oil prices rose in Asia on Friday, despite thin market liquidity, after a week marked by worries about Chinese demand and haggling over a Western price cap on Russian oil.
Brent crude futures rose by 41 cents, or 0.48%, to trade at $85.75 a barrel at 0730 GMT.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures went up by 57 cents, or 0.73%, from Wednesday's close to $78.51 a barrel. There was no WTI settlement on Thursday due to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.
Both contracts were still headed for their third consecutive weekly decline, on track to fall by around 2% or more with worries about tight supply easing.
Thin liquidity, concerns around China demand and the backdrop of assessing how severe the recession could be are the key price drivers so far, said Virendra Chauhan, head APAC analyst at Energy Aspects.
There are growing signs that a surge in COVID-19 cases in China, the world's top oil importer, is starting to hit fuel demand, with traffic drifting down and implied oil demand around 13 million barrels per day, or 1 million bpd lower than average, an ANZ note showed.
China on Friday reported a new daily record for COVID-19 infections, as cities across the country continued enforce mobility measures and other curbs to control outbreaks.
The resurgence in COVID cases in China remains the main bearish factor impacting oil prices from a demand perspective, said Tina Teng, markets analyst at CMC.
On the Russian oil price cap, G7 and European Union diplomats have been discussing levels between $65 and $70 a barrel, with the aim of limiting revenue to fund Moscow's military offensive in Ukraine without disrupting global oil markets.
"The market considers (the price caps) too high which reduces the risk of Moscow retaliating," ANZ Research analysts said in a note to clients.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow will not supply oil and gas to any countries that join in imposing the price cap, which the Kremlin reiterated on Thursday.
Trading is expected to remain cautious ahead of an agreement on the price cap, due to come into effect on Dec. 5 when an EU ban on Russian crude kicks off, and ahead of the next meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, on Dec. 4.
In October, OPEC+ agreed to reduce its output target by 2 million barrels per day through 2023, and Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman was quoted saying this week that OPEC+ was ready to cut output further if needed.
-----
Earlier:
2022, November, 23, 10:40:00
OIL PRICE: BRENT BELOW $89, WTI NEAR $81
Brent dropped 15 cents, or 0.2%, to $88.21 a barrel, WTI lost 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $80.86 a barrel.
2022, November, 21, 11:25:00
OIL PRICE: BRENT NEAR $87, WTI NEAR $80
Brent had slipped 74 cents, or 0.8%, to $86.88 a barrel, WTI were at $79.40 a barrel, down 68 cents or 0.9%.
2022, November, 21, 11:20:00
RUSSIAN ENERGY FOR CHINA $60 BLN
Oil imports from Russia rose 16% to 7.72 million tons last month, a volume topped only by Saudi Arabia, according to Chinese customs data.
2022, November, 18, 11:25:00
OIL PRICE: BRENT NEAR $89, WTI NEAR $82
Brent had edged lower by 13 cents or 0.1% to $89.65 a barrel, WTI rose 13 cents, or 0.2%, to $81.77 a barrel.
2022, November, 16, 11:05:00
OIL PRICE: BRENT ABOVE $93, WTI ABOVE $86
Brent dropped by 60 cents, or 0.6%, to $93.26 a barrel, WTI fell 69 cents, or 0.8%, to $86.23 a barrel.
2022, November, 16, 10:55:00
RUSSIAN OIL FOR INDIA UP
From a market share of less than 1% in India's import basket before the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia's share of India's imports rose to 4.24 million mt, or nearly 1 million b/d, in October, taking a 21% share comparable to that of Iraq and higher than Saudi Arabia's share of around 15% in the country's import basket in the same month,
2022, November, 16, 10:50:00
RUSSIAN OIL, GAS FOR JAPAN
Japan sees an equity stake in the Sakhalin 1 oil, gas project important as it relies around 95% on Middle Eastern oil imports.
