Oil were largely unchanged yesterday as signs of ample supply, including growing United States’ crude inventories, countered hopes for higher demand arising from a jump in manufacturing in top crude importer China.
Brent crude futures were up 8 cents to $83.54 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell 19 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $76.86. U.S. crude inventories rose for the 10th straight week to its highest level since May 2021, growing by 1.2 million barrels to 480.2 million barrels last week, government data showed, beating analyst expectations of a 457,000-barrel rise.
A widening discount of WTI to Brent contributed to a jump in U.S. crude exports last week to record high at 5.6 million barrels per day, which resulted in a smaller build than in previous weeks, according to UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
In other signs of ample supply, Russia’s oil production reached the pre-sanctions level for the first time in February, the Kommersant business daily reported, and the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ production also rose in February, a Reuters survey “China’s economy is rebounding now, and this can only be a positive driver for oil prices,” said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM, adding that resilient Russian supply is keeping buying interest at bay.
Source: thenationonlineng.net
