Oil prices are rising weakly on Wednesday morning ahead of the publication of the US Department of Energy report on energy stocks in the country.
Traders’ attention is also directed to the data on the dynamics of consumer prices in the States for June, which is expected to influence the decisions of the Federal Reserve at the nearest meetings.
Inflation data will be published at 15:30 Q2, the report of the Ministry of Energy on energy stocks – at 17:30 Q2.
The cost of September Brent crude futures on the London-based ICE Futures exchange at 8:15 Q2 on Wednesday is $79.49 per barrel, up $0.09 (0.11%) from the previous session’s closing price. On Tuesday, these contracts rose $1.71 (2.2%) to $79.4 per barrel.
The price of WTI oil futures for August at the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) increased by $0.1 (0.13%) to $74.93 per barrel. The day before, the cost of contracts rose by $1.84 (2.52%), to $74.83 per barrel.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), released on Tuesday night to Wednesday, showed an unexpected increase in U.S. inventories in the week ended July 7. The indicator increased by 3.026 million barrels, while experts surveyed by Trading Economics, on average, expected its decline by 200 thousand barrels.
A week earlier, oil reserves fell by 4.382 million barrels.
Oil prices are rising on Tuesday thanks to China’s announced measures to support the real estate market, whose problems continue to hold back the country’s economic growth.
The People’s Bank of China (Central Bank) will expand its program to support developers, including encouraging banks to extend loans to representatives of the sector to complete housing projects, Market Watch reports.
The attention of traders this week is directed to the data on the dynamics of consumer prices in the U.S. for June, as well as monthly reports of OPEC and the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The cost of September Brent crude futures on the London-based ICE Futures exchange by 8:20 Moscow time on Tuesday is $78.08 per barrel, up $0.39 (0.50%) from the previous session’s closing price. On Monday, these contracts fell $0.78 (1%) to $77.69 per barrel.
The price of WTI oil futures for August at the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) increased by $0.41 (0.56%) to $73.4 per barrel. The previous day, the value of these contracts fell by $0.87 (1.2%), to $72.99 per barrel.
“New stimulus for the Chinese real estate market is supporting the oil market,” said Warren Patterson, who is in charge of commodities strategy at ING Groep NV. – U.S. inflation data to be released on Wednesday could determine the market’s direction in the short term as it will show what to expect from the Fed in the coming months.”
Benchmark oil prices are falling Monday morning after a three-month record rise at the end of last week.
The price of September futures for Brent on the London-based ICE Futures exchange at 8:18 a.m. Q4 is at $78.02 a barrel, down 45 cents (0.57%) from the previous session’s close. On Friday, these contracts rose by $1.95 (2.6%) – to $78.47 per barrel, having updated the maximum since May 1.
Quotes of futures for WTI crude oil for August at the electronic trading of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by the specified time decreased by 47 cents (0.64%) and amounted to $73.39 per barrel. At the end of the previous session they rose by $2.06 (2.9%) – to $73.86 per barrel.
Last week Brent rose in price by 4.1%, WTI – by 4.6%.
Positive factors for the oil market were the data on the third consecutive weekly reduction of inventories in the United States and the news about the extension of voluntary production cuts by Saudi Arabia.
As reported, commercial oil reserves in the U.S. last week decreased by 1.5 million barrels. Experts surveyed by S&P Global Commodity Insights, on average, predicted a decline of 3.6 million barrels.
Saudi Arabia announced the extension of a voluntary oil production cut of 1 million bpd for August. Thus, the country’s production in August will remain at around 9 mln bpd.
Saudi Arabia will increase prices in August for all oil grades for US, Northwest Europe and Mediterranean customers as well as for some grades for Asian customers.Saudi Arabia raises oil prices slightly for US and Europe
The most significant price increases will be for customers from the Mediterranean (1-1.1%) and Northwest Europe (0.8%). For the US, Saudi oil will rise by 0.1%.
The cost of the main grade supplied to Asia, Arab Light, will increase by $0.2 per barrel next month. As a result, it will be $3.2 a barrel more expensive than the Oman and Dubai oil basket.
EUROPE, OIL, SAUDI ARABIA, US
The market is supported by the data on decrease of reserves in the USA, published the day before, as well as the information on increase of prices for most grades of oil by Saudi Arabia for the buyers from all regions.
The September futures for Brent crude oil on London’s ICE Futures Exchange stood at $76.85 per barrel by 8:15 a.m. on Friday, $0.33 (0.43%) above the previous session’s closing price. Those contracts fell $0.13 (0.2%) to $76.52 a barrel on Thursday.
The price of WTI futures for August at electronic trades of NYMEX grew by $0.32 (0.45%) up to $72.12 per barrel by that time. The price of these contracts remained practically unchanged the day before and amounted to $71.8 per barrel by market close.
According to U.S. Department of Energy, last week commercial oil inventories in the country decreased by 1.5 mln barrels to 452.2 mln barrels. Gasoline inventories decreased by 2.5 million barrels and distillates by 1 million barrels.
Experts polled by S&P Global Commodity Insights, on average, predicted a 3.6 million barrels reduction of oil reserves, 1.7 million barrels of gasoline and 700,000 barrels of distillates.
Stocks at Cushing terminal, which stores crude oil traded on Nymex, decreased by 400,000 barrels to 42.8 million barrels over the week.
Saudi Arabia will raise prices for all grades of crude in August for customers in the United States, Northwest Europe and the Mediterranean, as well as some grades for customers in Asia, state-run Saudi Aramco said Thursday.
“Macroeconomic uncertainty and concerns about the pace of China’s economic recovery are impediments to a further rebound in oil prices,” said ING analyst Warren Patterson.
“Expectations of a stronger Federal Reserve hawkish mood are also not supporting risk appetite,” Market Watch quotes the expert as saying.
Oil prices of benchmark grades are weakly falling Thursday morning after an increase in the previous session.
The price of September futures for Brent on London’s ICE Futures Exchange stood at $76.41 a barrel by 8:10 a.m., down $0.24 (0.31%) from the close of the previous session. Those contracts rose $0.4 (0.5%) to $76.65 a barrel on Wednesday.
The price of WTI crude futures for August at electronic trades of NYMEX fell by 6 cents (0.08%) to $71.73 per barrel by that time. The day before these contracts rose $2 (2.9%) to $71.79 a barrel.
A positive factor in previous session was the statements of the Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman that OPEC+ will do everything necessary to support the oil market.
On Monday, Saudi Arabia announced an extension of its voluntary oil production cut of 1 million bpd for August. Thus, the country’s oil production will remain at around 9 mln bpd in August.
Meanwhile, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API), U.S. oil inventories fell by 4.38 million barrels last week.
Official data from the nation’s Energy Department will be released Thursday at 6 p.m. Q, a day later than usual since Tuesday was a non-working day in the States. Experts polled by Trading Economics, on average, forecast a decrease in oil reserves by about 1 million barrels.
