Financial Energy Review
……….by Ben Ndubuwa…….
Global oil market is maintaining stability with prices hitting new peaks on Wednesday as Brent crude was up $1.00, or 1.2 per cent, having touched $87.24, the highest price since April
This follows tighter supply owing to Saudi and Russian output cuts offset concerns over slow demand from China and a report showing rising U.S. crude inventories.
Top exporter Saudi Arabia last week extended its voluntary production cut of 1 million barrels per day for another month to include September, and Russia said it would cut oil exports by 300,000 bpd in September.
“The latest recovery is mainly driven by the pledge of major producers, like Saudi Arabia and Russia, to keep supply subdued for another month,” said Charalampos Pissouros, senior investment analyst at broker XM.
Financial Energy Review gathered that Brent crude going up to $87.24, the highest price since April 13. While the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 80 cents, or 1.0 per cent to $83.72. The U.S. benchmark touched $84.11, the highest price since November 2022.
Crude posted its sixth consecutive weekly gain last week, helped by a reduction in OPEC+ supplies and hopes of stimulus boosting oil demand recovery in China.
“There is no doubt that there is plenty of momentum here,” said Naeem Aslam, chief investment officer at Zaye Capital Markets. “The clear trend seems to be skewed to the upside.”
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia’s cabinet said it reaffirmed its support for precautionary measures by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, to stabilize the market, state media reported.
Some bearish pressure came from American Petroleum Institute (API) figures on Tuesday, which according to market sources showed U.S. crude stocks rose by 4.1 million barrels last week, although gasoline and distillate inventories fell.
Official U.S. Energy Information Administration inventory figures are due for release.
On Tuesday, oil also came under pressure from Chinese data showing crude oil imports in July fell 18.8 per cent from the previous month to their lowest daily rate since January, although they were up 17 per cent from a year earlier.
