Oil prices are steadily rising in trading on Thursday after slight fluctuations the previous day, investors are evaluating the prospects for demand.
The opening of the Chinese economy gives the market reason to be optimistic about the recovery in consumption this year, writes Trading Economics.
The cost of March futures for Brent at London’s ICE Futures Exchange was $86.73 a barrel by 12:54 p.m., $0.61 (0.71%) above the index at the close of the previous session.
The price of WTI futures for March crude oil on the electronic trades of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) makes $80.76 per barrel by that time, which is $0.61 (0.76%) higher than the final value of the previous session.
In addition, traders continue to assess data on fuel reserves in the U.S.
The country’s commercial oil reserves rose 533,000 barrels last week, according to a weekly report released by the Energy Department the day before. Growth in reserves was recorded for the fifth week in a row.
Gasoline inventories increased by 1.76 million barrels while distillates decreased by 507,000 barrels.
The experts interviewed by Bloomberg expected a 1.5 barrel growth of oil reserves, an increase of gasoline reserves by 1.5 million barrels and a 1.6 million barrel decline of distillate reserves.
