Benchmark oil prices are little changed on Thursday morning after declines in the previous three sessions.
The price of October Brent futures on London’s ICE Futures exchange is at $83.2 per barrel by 8:09 a.m. Q4, down 1 cent (0.01%) from the previous session’s close. On Wednesday, these contracts fell in price by $0.82 (1%) – to $83.21 per barrel.
Quotes of futures for WTI crude oil for October at the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by the specified time decreased by 5 cents (0.06%) and amounted to $78.84 per barrel. At the end of the last session they fell by $0.75 (0.9%) – to $78.89 per barrel.
The day before, Brent ended trading at the lowest since August 2, WTI – since July 26.
Commercial oil inventories in the U.S. last week decreased by 6.13 million barrels, according to the weekly report of the country’s Energy Department. Experts surveyed by Bloomberg expected a decrease in oil reserves by 3 million barrels.
Meanwhile, commercial reserves of gasoline increased by 1.47 million barrels, distillates – increased by 945 thousand barrels. Analysts predicted a decrease in gasoline reserves by 481 thousand barrels and an increase in distillate reserves by 698 thousand barrels.
Inventories at the Cushing terminal, where NYMEX-traded crude is stored, fell 3.13 million barrels after dropping 837,000 barrels a week earlier.
“The data pointed to a sharp drop in oil inventories overall and also at the Cushing terminal,” Tariq Zahir, managing partner at Tyche Capital Advisors, told MarketWatch. According to him, the decline in quotations observed in recent days may be replaced by growth amid production cuts in Saudi Arabia and storm activity in the Gulf of Mexico.
Benchmark crude oil prices are down slightly on Tuesday morning after declining the previous day.
The price of October futures for Brent on the London-based ICE Futures exchange at 8:00 a.m. Q4 is at $84.34 per barrel, down 12 cents (0.14%) from the previous session’s close. On Monday, these contracts fell in price by $0.34 (0.4%) – to $84.46 per barrel.
Quotes of futures for WTI crude oil for September at the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by the specified time decreased by 2 cents (0.02%) and amounted to $80.7 per barrel. At the end of the last session they fell by $0.53 (0.7%) – to $80.72 per barrel.
Negative factors for the market in recent days are concerns about the slow growth of the Chinese economy and strengthening of the dollar on expectations of new Fed rate hikes.
“Overall, oil demand and prices are being held back by slowing global economic growth and a global recession in the manufacturing sector,” said Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics.
However, OPEC forecasts still call for global oil demand growth of more than 2% in 2023 and 2024, Schenker noted. In addition, data from the U.S. Department of Energy indicate a decline in crude stockpiles in annual terms.
Benchmark crude oil prices are rising on Thursday afternoon amid a weaker US dollar.
The price of October futures for Brent on the London-based ICE Futures exchange at 14:54 Q2 stands at $84.18 per barrel, up 73 cents (0.87%) from the previous session’s close.
Quotes of futures for WTI crude oil for September at the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by the specified time rose by 72 cents (0.91%) and amounted to $80.1 per barrel.
The DXY index, which reflects the value of the U.S. currency against six other major world currencies, is down 0.2% in Thursday trading, boosting the appeal of commodities traded there.
“Bulls” in the oil market are seeking to break a streak of three consecutive sessions in the negative, associated with concerns about demand from China and rising US Treasuries yields, among other things, writes MarketWatch.
After the release of strong macroeconomic data, the yield on 10-year U.S. government bonds reached the maximum since 2008, the online edition notes. Meanwhile, weak statistics from the People’s Republic of China and increased concerns about the Chinese real estate market had a negative impact on the assessment of the prospects for consumption by the economy of this country.
Oil prices are falling on Monday amid a general outflow of investors’ funds from risky assets due to signals of a new wave of crisis in the Chinese real estate market.
The US dollar is strengthening, which reduces the attractiveness of investments in commodities. The ICE dollar index is up 0.12% during trading.
The cost of October futures for Brent crude oil on the London ICE Futures exchange at 8:10 a.m. on Monday is $85.97 per barrel, which is $0.84 (0.97%) lower than the price at the previous session’s close. On Friday, these contracts rose by $0.41 (0.5%) to $86.81 per barrel.
The price of September futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) fell by $0.85 (1.02%) to $82.34 per barrel by this time. As a result of the previous trading, the value of these contracts increased by $0.37 (0.5%) to $83.19 per barrel.
Last week, Brent rose in price by 0.7%, WTI – by 0.5%. Both grades finished in the black for the seventh week in a row due to fears of an oil shortage on the global market. Expectations that the US economy will be able to avoid recession despite the Federal Reserve tightening monetary policy supported demand forecasts. At the same time, the reduction in oil supplies from Saudi Arabia to the global market raises fears of a reduction in supply.
“Traders have been overly focused on the economic situation in the United States, ignoring the serious problems in Europe and China,” said Vanda Insights founder Vandana Hari. – “It’s about time they came back to reality.
Prices of benchmark oil grades are down weakly on Friday morning after a sharp decline the previous day.
The price of October Brent futures on London’s ICE Futures exchange is at $86.25 a barrel by 8:10 a.m. Q4, down 15 cents (0.17%) from the previous session’s close. On Thursday, these contracts fell in price by $1.15 (1.3%) – to $86.24 per barrel.
Quotes of futures for WTI crude oil for September at the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by the specified time decreased by 14 cents (0.17%) and amounted to $82.68 per barrel. At the end of the last session they fell by $1.58 (1.9%) – to $82.82 per barrel.
Earlier this week, both grades hit multi-month highs. Despite declines the day before, they may end in the plus side for the seventh straight week on expectations of fuel shortages in the global market.
“The oil market has been overbought after rallying for weeks, but OPEC+ production cuts and improving demand outlook remain positive factors,” said CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng.
Meanwhile, OPEC left in force its previous forecast, which envisioned growth in global oil demand in 2023 by 2.44 million bpd to 102.01 million bpd. Next year, it will increase by another 2.25 million bpd to 104.25 million bpd, the organization expects.
“Sustained global economic growth amid continued improvements in China is projected to boost oil consumption in 2024,” OPEC said.
Oil prices are moderately lower on Monday morning, holding near four-month highs on expectations of an imminent fuel shortage in the global market.
The price of October Brent futures on London’s ICE Futures exchange is at $86.15 a barrel by 8:15 a.m. Q1, down 9 cents (0.1%) from the previous session’s close. Last Friday, these contracts rose by $1.1 (1.3%) to $86.24 per barrel.
Quotes of futures for WTI crude oil for September at the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by the specified time decreased by 6 cents (0.07%) and amounted to $82.76 per barrel. At the end of the previous session they rose by $1.27 (1.6%) – to $82.82 per barrel.
Over the past week, Brent rose by 2.2%, WTI – by 2.8%, and both brands closed at their highs since April 12.
Saudi Arabia on Thursday announced the extension of an additional voluntary production cut of 1 million bpd for September. Thus, the country’s actual oil production level next month is expected to be 9 million bpd.
In addition, Russia will also continue to voluntarily cut supplies to external markets by 300,000 bpd in September, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said.
“We expect Brent to end the year near the $85 per barrel mark. Ultimately OPEC+ looks determined to limit supply. We also expect global oil demand to grow at a 2% annualized rate in the second half of 2023,” said Edward Gardner, commodity economist at Capital Economics.
Meanwhile, data from oilfield services company Baker Hughes showed that over the past week the number of active oil rigs in the U.S. fell by 4 units to 525.
