Oil prices edge up off six-week lows
Published: 02:07 PM,Jul 24,2024 | EDITED : 06:07 PM,Jul 24,2024
Oman oil price on Wednesday reached $80.66 per barrel.
MUSCAT/ LONDON: The Oman oil price yesterday, for September delivery 2024, reached $80.66 per barrel, comprising a drop by $1.29, compared to the price on Tuesday which stood at $81.95.
The average price of Oman oil (July delivery 2024) has stabilised at $83.89 per barrel, thus $5.41 per barrel lower than June delivery 2024.
Meanwhile, international oil prices edged higher on Wednesday but were still close to their lowest level in six weeks with few signs of the fuel consumption surge usually seen at this stage of the northern hemisphere summer.
Still, prices snapped three straight sessions of decline on falling US crude inventories and growing supply risks from wildfires.
Brent crude futures for September rose 71 cents, or 0.9%, to $81.73 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude for September increased 75 cents, or 1%, to $77.74 per barrel.
The likely reason for the wider sell-off has been the “diminishing hopes of demand resurrection,” with “an admission from refiners that the summer leap in consumption is simply not taking place”, said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM.
US oil refiners are expected to report sharply lower second quarter earnings versus a year ago after a listless summer driving season weakened refining margins, energy analysts said.
Oil prices fell to a six-week low on Tuesday, with Brent closing at its lowest level since June 9 on ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas in a plan outlined by US President Joe Biden in May and mediated by Egypt and Qatar.
Prices also suffered due to continued concern that the economic slowdown in China, the world’s biggest crude importer, would weaken global oil demand.
Meanwhile, crude oil deliveries to India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, slipped in June to their lowest since February, government data showed.
WTI lost 7% over the previous three sessions, while Brent was down nearly 5%.
Buoying prices, US crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories fell for the fourth straight week in the previous week, according to market sources citing the American Petroleum Institute, reflecting steady demand in the world’s largest consumer of oil.
That would be the first time crude stocks in the United States fell for four weeks in a row since September 2023.
Wildfires in Canada forced some producers to curtail production and threatened a large amount of supply.
“Market is nearing oversold territory and we still believe that the fundamentals support prices moving higher from current levels over the remainder of the third quarter on the back of a deficit environment,” ING analysts said in a note. — Agencies
The average price of Oman oil (July delivery 2024) has stabilised at $83.89 per barrel, thus $5.41 per barrel lower than June delivery 2024.
Meanwhile, international oil prices edged higher on Wednesday but were still close to their lowest level in six weeks with few signs of the fuel consumption surge usually seen at this stage of the northern hemisphere summer.
Still, prices snapped three straight sessions of decline on falling US crude inventories and growing supply risks from wildfires.
Brent crude futures for September rose 71 cents, or 0.9%, to $81.73 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude for September increased 75 cents, or 1%, to $77.74 per barrel.
The likely reason for the wider sell-off has been the “diminishing hopes of demand resurrection,” with “an admission from refiners that the summer leap in consumption is simply not taking place”, said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM.
US oil refiners are expected to report sharply lower second quarter earnings versus a year ago after a listless summer driving season weakened refining margins, energy analysts said.
Oil prices fell to a six-week low on Tuesday, with Brent closing at its lowest level since June 9 on ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas in a plan outlined by US President Joe Biden in May and mediated by Egypt and Qatar.
Prices also suffered due to continued concern that the economic slowdown in China, the world’s biggest crude importer, would weaken global oil demand.
Meanwhile, crude oil deliveries to India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, slipped in June to their lowest since February, government data showed.
WTI lost 7% over the previous three sessions, while Brent was down nearly 5%.
Buoying prices, US crude oil, gasoline and distillate inventories fell for the fourth straight week in the previous week, according to market sources citing the American Petroleum Institute, reflecting steady demand in the world’s largest consumer of oil.
That would be the first time crude stocks in the United States fell for four weeks in a row since September 2023.
Wildfires in Canada forced some producers to curtail production and threatened a large amount of supply.
“Market is nearing oversold territory and we still believe that the fundamentals support prices moving higher from current levels over the remainder of the third quarter on the back of a deficit environment,” ING analysts said in a note. — Agencies