Oil rises after expectations of lower demand

Oil prices rose by two dollars, regarding three percent, today, to compensate for most of the declines of the previous session, following the outages in Libya and expected closures in Norway outweighed expectations that the economic slowdown might lead to a decline in demand.

Brent crude futures rose $1.81, or 1.7 percent, to $110.84 a barrel by 1507 GMT, following falling to $108.03 a barrel earlier in the session.

US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose $2.08, or two percent, to $107.84 a barrel, following falling to $104.56 a barrel earlier.

Oil prices gave up some gains today, following the release of industry data showing US manufacturing activity slowed more than expected last month.

However, lower supplies of crude oil and fuel supported the oil market even as stocks fell and the US dollar rose, which usually has an inverse relationship with crude oil.

The OPEC + group of producers, which includes Russia, agreed yesterday to stick to its production strategy in August following two days of meetings. The group avoided discussing the policy to be followed in September.

Previously, the group decided to increase production per month by 648,000 barrels per day in July and August, up from a previous plan to add 432,000 barrels per day in the month.

A Archyde.com survey showed today that OPEC pumped 28.52 million barrels per day in June, down 100,000 barrels per day from the revised total in May.

Leave a Replay