© Reuters. A pump belonging to the French company IBC works in an oil field outside Sodron, France, on February 6, 2023. Photography: Pascal Rossignol – Reuters.
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil futures rose on Monday as geopolitical tension in the Middle East resurfaced, raising concerns about supplies from the region, but uncertainty over voluntary production cuts by OPEC+ and growth in global fuel demand cast a shadow over the sector’s outlook. .
By 0018 GMT, crude futures rose 28 cents, or 0.4 percent, to 79.16 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures reached $74.36 per barrel, up 29 cents, or 0.4 percent. .
“The re-emergence of geopolitical tension at the weekend gave a boost to low prices at the reopening this morning,” said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG Markets.
He added, “It seems that escalating tension is surfacing again in the Middle East as a result of the resumption of Israeli attacks in Gaza.”
The US military said on Sunday that fighting had resumed in Gaza and that three commercial ships were attacked in international waters in the southern Red Sea, while the Yemeni Houthi group claimed responsibility for drone and missile attacks on two Israeli ships in the region.
Tina Teng, an analyst at CMC Markets, said that the resumption of the war between Hamas and Hamas fueled the upward momentum in oil prices.
“However, oil prices may continue to be under pressure for the time being due to the disappointing pace of economic recovery in China and increasing US production,” she added.
US oil rigs increased by five to 505 this week, the highest since September, energy services company Baker Hughes (NASDAQ:) PKRO said in its closely watched report on Friday.
Oil prices are recovering from a drop of more than 2 percent last week due to investor doubts about the extent of supply cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies including Russia, which is called the OPEC+ alliance, and concerns about the slowdown in global manufacturing activity.
“Prices are likely to remain volatile and perhaps directionless until the market sees clear data points related to voluntary production cuts,” RBC Capital analysts said in a note, adding that such data would not be available for another two months.
Regarding Russian oil, Western countries have intensified their efforts to implement the maximum price per barrel of $60 on seaborne shipments of Russian oil, which they imposed to punish Moscow because of its war in Ukraine.
On Friday, Washington imposed additional sanctions on three entities and three oil tankers.
(Prepared by Hassan Ammar for the Arabic Bulletin)
2023-12-04 02:30:00
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