Has stepped up Oil prices In early Asian transactions, today, Friday, following declining by 2% in the previous session in the wake of central banks raising interest rates, and heading towards ending the week’s transactions on a rise following a series of positive expectations for oil demand.
By 01:09 GMT, Brent crude futures rose 36 cents, or 0.4%, to $81.57 a barrel.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 25 cents, or 0.3%, to $76.36 a barrel.
The two benchmarks are heading towards ending the week up by more than 7%, according to Archyde.com.
The market received support this week from the expectations of the International Energy Agency regarding the recovery of Chinese demand next year, following its contraction in 2022 to 400 thousand barrels per day.
The agency raised its forecast for oil demand growth in 2023 to 1.7 million barrels per day.
On Tuesday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced its commitment to its forecast for global demand growth of 2.55 million barrels per day this year and 2.25 million barrels per day in 2023 following multiple cuts, saying that although the economic slowdown is “quite clear”, the There is a potential upside stemming from, among other things, the easing of China’s “zero Covid” policy.
