Benchmark crude oil prices are rising moderately on Tuesday morning after declines in the previous two sessions.
The price of September Brent futures on London’s ICE Futures exchange is at $78.68 a barrel by 8:46 a.m. Q2, up 18 cents (0.23%) from the previous session’s close. On Monday, these contracts fell in price by $1.37 (1.7%) – to $78.5 per barrel.
Quotes of futures for WTI oil for August at the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) to the specified time rose by 23 cents (0.31%) and amounted to $74.38 per barrel. At the end of the previous session they fell by $1.27 (1.7%) – to $74.15 per barrel.
Oil finished in the negative two last sessions in a row. On the eve, the negative factor was statistical data from China, which indicated the growth of China’s GDP by 6.3% in annualized terms in the second quarter after a rise of 4.5% in January-March. The consensus forecast of experts surveyed by Trading Economics had called for a 7.3% increase.
“Weaker-than-expected macroeconomic data from China and oil market reaction suggest that demand remains the key concern for the market,” said ING Groep NV strategist Warren Patterson. – However, we still maintain a constructive outlook and believe that the gap between supply and demand will narrow significantly in the second half of the year”.
In addition, the decrease was caused by the news of resumption of production at Al Sharara and Al Fil fields in Libya, where production was suspended last week due to protests.
On Tuesday, prices are supported by the forecast of the US Department of Energy, which provides for a decrease in shale oil production in the States in August to 9.4 million barrels per day. If the forecast comes true, the production cut will be recorded for the first time since December last year.
