Source: day
Oil prices rose by 1 percent at the settlement today, continuing a recent upward march gaining momentum from the rise in Chinese demand, while the market ignored the increase in US crude inventories for the second week in a row.
Brent crude futures rose $1.18, or 1.4 percent, to settle at $86.16 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 85 cents, or 1.1 percent, to 80.33. dollars per barrel at settlement. Those were the highest closing levels for both contracts since December 1.
Likewise, Chinese demand for oil increased by about one million barrels per day from the previous month to 15.41 million barrels per day in November, the highest level since February, according to the latest export figures published by the Joint Data Initiative (JODI).
The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, said today that it is possible that energy markets will witness more convergence in 2023, adding that he hopes that prices will not increase further to relieve pressure on developing countries that import energy.
“In the slightly longer term, I think the Russian oil sector will face huge challenges,” Birol said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “If the Chinese economy recovers this year, which many financial institutions expect, we could see very strong demand,” he said.
Oil prices fell by more than $1 a barrel earlier in Thursday’s session, with traders taking profits and US data showing that the economy is losing momentum. Both oil benchmarks hit their highest levels in more than a month on Tuesday.
Prices were also under pressure for a short time after data from the US Energy Information Administration showed that US crude inventories rose by 8.4 million barrels last week, the largest increase since June 2021.
