Expectations of a continued increase in oil demand in 2023 (Agence France Presse)
On Wednesday, Morgan Stanley expected Brent crude prices to rise to about $110 a barrel by mid-2023, indicating that prices are supported by high demand and the continuation of Scarcity of supply out of the raw.
The investment bank said in a note: “We remain speculative High oil prices Supported by the recovery of demand (after China eased Corona restrictions and the recovery of the aviation sector), amid a shortage of supply due to low levels of investment and the risks facing Russian supplies, the end of withdrawals from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the slowdown (production) of US shale oil.
Oil prices rose on Wednesday after both the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) andInternational Energy Agency Demand rebounds over the next year.
The bank said that macroeconomic headwinds will push the market into a slight oversupply and are likely to keep prices somewhat range-bound through the first quarter.
But Martin Rats, an oil analyst at Morgan Stanley, expected the market to return to balance in the second quarter and to witness greater scarcity in the second half of 2023.
Oil prices rise about two dollars, amid expectations of an increase in demand in 2023
Oil prices rose on Wednesday by about two dollars after expectations from OPEC and the International Energy Agency that demand for oil will recover over the next year, and in light of expectations that the rate of raising US interest rates will decline with the slowdown in inflation.
Brent crude futures rose $1.88, or 2.3%, to $82.56 a barrel by 16:55 GMT. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose $1.82 to $77.21 a barrel. Both benchmarks had risen more than $2 earlier in the session.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said in its 2023 outlook that oil demand will grow by 2.25 million barrels per day over the next year to 101.8 million barrels per day, with a possible increase from China, the world’s largest oil importer.
Today, Wednesday, the International Energy Agency raised its estimate for oil demand in 2023 to an increase of 1.7 million barrels per day, to 101.6 million barrels per day.
These estimates came on the basis of a prediction that Chinese oil demand will recover next year after a contraction of 400,000 barrels per day in 2022.
The market also received support this week from the leakage and outage of TC Energy’s Keystone pipeline, which transports 620,000 barrels per day of Canadian crude to the United States.
Officials said it would take at least several weeks to fix.
Meanwhile, US crude oil inventories rose by more than ten million barrels last week, the largest number since March 2021, supported by withdrawals from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and refinery downsizing.
HSBC stops funding new oil and gas fields
HSBC Bank said today, Wednesday, that it will stop financing new projects in oil and gas fields, indicating that it expects more information from energy customers about their plans to reduce carbon emissions, as part of a broader policy update.
Environmental groups that have been critical of the bank in past years have largely hailed the move by one of the world’s largest energy lenders as a long-awaited policy overhaul that would steer companies toward a better future.
“HSBC’s announcement sets a new minimum ambition level for all net-zero banks,” said Jane Martin of Share Action.
And “HSBC” is among the largest banks that confirmed that it will not support oil and gas projects that have received final approval after the end of 2021, a step that the International Energy Agency said is necessary for the world to reach net zero emissions by 2050. .
US crude oil inventories rise by more than 10 million barrels
The US Energy Information Administration said today, Wednesday, that stocks of crude oil, gasoline and distillate output in the United States increased last week.
Crude inventories increased by 10.2 million barrels in the week ending December 9 to 424.1 million barrels, a significant increase from analysts’ expectations in a Archyde.com poll, for a decline of 3.6 million barrels.
Crude inventories at the delivery center in Cushing, Oklahoma, rose by 426,000 barrels last week, according to the Energy Information Administration. The management reported that the crude refinery run rate increased 3.3% that week.
With regard to gasoline stocks, the administration said that they increased by 4.5 million barrels last week to 223.6 million, compared to analysts’ expectations in a Archyde.com poll, for an increase of only 2.7 million barrels.
According to management data, distillate stocks, which include diesel and heating oil, increased by 1.4 million barrels in the same week to 120.2 million barrels, compared to expectations of an increase of 2.5 million barrels. The administration said net US imports of crude fell last week by 31,000 barrels per day.
(Archyde.com, The New Arab)