Oil rises amid falling US inventories, scarce supplies

Oil prices rose today, Wednesday, amid great caution, as factors putting pressure on the upward trend, such as falling US crude inventories and a lack of supply in the market at large, were met by pressure factors. In the opposite direction, the uncertainty about the growth in demand from China and the drop in gas prices.

Brent crude oil futures for the December settlement rose 60 cents, or 0.7%, to $ 90.63 a barrel by 09:13 GMT. Crude fell to $ 89.32 earlier in the session.

US West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery, which expires Thursday, rose to $ 83.59 a barrel, 77 cents, or 0.9%.

As for the December contract, it recorded $ 82.73, an increase of 66 cents, or 0.8%.

In the previous session, the two crudes fell to their lowest levels in two weeks after news of US President Joe Biden’s intention to withdraw more barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Wholesale gas prices fell in Britain and the Netherlands this week in light of mild weather, full tanks and the arrival of many LNG tankers.

This week, China also postponed the release of some key economic data, an unusual move that raised fears of weak growth. But there are also signs of a recovery in Chinese demand.

Private refining giant Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp secured an additional quota for the import of crude oil in 2022 of 10 million tons, and state-run Chem China took an additional 4.28 million tons. This equates to approximately 104 million barrels.

Prices received support from the European Union’s expected ban on Russian crude oil and petroleum products and the cut in production decided by the OPEC + group, composed of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers, including the Russia, equal to two million barrels a day.

In the United States, market sources cited data from the American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 1.3 million barrels in the week ending October 14.

Gasoline stocks fell by 2.2 million barrels, while distillate stocks fell by 1.1 million barrels.