2023-07-21 07:00:00
OIL PRICE: BRENT ABOVE $80, WTI NEAR $76
REUTERS - July 21, 2023 - Brent oil prices rose in Asian trading on Friday, as markets assessed the prospect of economic stimulus in China after weak economic data, falling inventories in the U.S. and supply cuts from key producers.
Brent futures rose 63 cents to $80.27 a barrel by 0425 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed 62 cents to $76.27 a barrel. Prices closed marginally higher on Thursday.
Brent was on track to close up 0.5% for the week, while WTI was set to tick up 1.1%, which would represent a fourth consecutive week of gains for both benchmarks.
China's weak economic figures had kept a lid on prices through the week. The world's second biggest oil consumer this week posted disappointing growth in second-quarter gross domestic product, increasing the likelihood of the economy's missing the government's 5% annual growth target.
However, sentiment across commodity markets has picked up on hopes the central government would roll out more stimulus measures to support the economy.
On Wednesday, Beijing announced that it will formulate plans to stabilise growth in 10 sectors, as well as to increase support for private firms.
Supporting prices, recent data, including lower-than-expected inflation and moderating job growth, have convinced many investors and analysts the Federal Reserve's expected July rate hike will be the last of its current tightening cycle.
Supply fundamentals have also provided support to market sentiment.
"Evidence of supply cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia have been the trigger for the rebound in prices this month," analysts from ANZ Bank said in a client note.
In early July, Riyadh said it would extend a voluntary output cut of 1 million bpd into August, while Moscow said it would cut exports by 500,000 bpd in August.
"That tightness in supply is already showing up in inventories," ANZ noted.
U.S. crude inventories (USOILC=ECI) fell last week, supported by a jump in crude exports as well as higher refinery utilization, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday.
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Earlier:
2023, July, 14, 07:00:00
OIL PRICE: BRENT ABOVE $81, WTI NEAR $77
Brent had added 5 cents, or 0.1%, to $81.41 per barrel, WTI rose 9 cents, or 0.1%, to $76.98.
2023, July, 14, 06:55:00
OIL PRICES 2023-24: $80 - $84
The Brent crude oil spot price will average $80 per barrel (b) in 4Q23 and $84/b in 2024.
2023, July, 7, 07:00:00
OIL PRICE: BRENT NEAR $77, WTI NEAR $72
Brent were up 20 cents, or 0.3%, at $76.72 a barrel, WTI gained 19 cents, also 0.3%, to $71.99 a barrel.
2023, July, 7, 06:55:00
МЕНЬШЕ РУССКОЙ НЕФТИ
В рамках усилий по обеспечению баланса рынка Россия добровольно сократит в августе поставки на нефтяные рынки на 500 тыс. баррелей в сутки посредством сокращения экспорта на обозначенную величину.
2023, July, 7, 06:53:00
OPEC+ STABILIZE MARKET
UAE energy minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said the voluntary OPEC+ cuts would bear fruit soon and blamed the current market malaise on the disconnect between physical and paper traders.
2023, June, 30, 06:45:00
ASIA'S OIL DEMAND WILL UP
Asian demand has also led to Saudi Aramco's optimism about the global oil market's prospects for the rest of the year, its CEO Amin H. Nasser said at the conference, adding that oil market fundamentals remain "generally sound".
2022, December, 13, 13:55:00
RUSSIAN OIL TO ASIA 3 MBD
Export loadings of Russian crude averaged 3.02 million b/d in the week ending Dec. 11, little changed from the week before and in line with the November average of 3.07 million b/d
