Oil prices rise on US inventory drop and increased Chinese imports, Brent hits $84 per barrel

Oil prices rose on Thursday after a drop in US crude inventories, combined with increased refinery intakes and a rise in Chinese imports, helped lift oil demand expectations in the US and China in terms of consumption raw

Reuters news agency writes that on Thursday morning.

At the time of writing, the July contract for Brent oil rose 0.57 percent to 84.06 dollars per barrel. Meanwhile, American light oil (WTI) is up 0.65 percent to 79.50 dollars per barrel. barrel

Market analyst Tina Teng tells Reuters that the market has been lifted by a larger-than-expected decline in US inventory figures, as well as positive trade balance figures from China.

Crude oil inventories in the United States fell last week by 1.4 million barrels, according to Reuters, where the market expected a decline of 1.1 million barrels. Meanwhile, trade figures on Thursday from China, the world’s largest oil importer, showed that the country imported about 10.88 million barrels of crude oil per day in April – a corresponding to an increase of 5.5 percent from the previous year.

Despite the new optimism in the market, IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong says that “while there may be short-term relief for oil prices, it may be difficult to recover to the highest level in April above $ 90 seized”, according to Reuters.

Increase in selling price

On Monday it emerged that Saudi Arabia was for the third month in a row an increase in the selling price for Arab Light oil for Asian customers.

They did this as a new measure to tighten the oil market and avoid a reported oil surplus Bloomberg.

State energy company Aramco announced that it is increasing the price for June delivery of Arab Light by 90 cents to $2.90 above the official selling price of Middle Eastern crude. These prices apply to customers in Asia, where the largest customer group is mainly located. The prices of other types of oil will also rise.

With Saudi Arabia at the forefront, OPEC has long aimed to raise global oil prices to bolster its own budgets. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has. previously considered that the kingdom needs an oil price of almost 100 dollars just to balance the budget.