Crude Oil

Oil Prices Climb as U.S. Inflation Eases, Brent Hits $86

Published

2 months ago

July 12, 2024

Oil prices rose on Friday after traders noticed signs of easing inflationary pressures in the United States, the world’s largest oil consumer.

Brent crude oil, against which Nigerian oil is priced, had risen by 72 cents, or 0.8% to $86.12 a barrel.

Meanwhile, U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil climbed by 85 cents, or 1%, to $83.47 a barrel. Both contracts had also gained in the prior two sessions.

Despite these gains, Brent crude oil was poised to fall by about 1% week-on-week after four consecutive weekly increases.

WTI crude oil, on the other hand, remained broadly stable on a weekly basis.

Investor confidence was boosted after data released on Thursday showed that U.S. consumer prices fell in June, fueling hopes that the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates soon.

Lower rates are expected to spur economic growth, thereby increasing fuel consumption.

However, the market is still awaiting more definitive signs of action. While Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged the recent trend of improving price pressures, he told lawmakers that more data would be needed to strengthen the case for rate cuts.

“Cooling U.S. inflation numbers may support the case for the Fed to kick-start its policy easing process earlier rather than later, but it also adds to the series of downside surprises in U.S. economic data, which points to a clear weakening of the U.S. economy,” said Yeap Jun Rong, a market strategist at IG.

In addition to inflation data, indications of strong summer fuel demand in the U.S. also supported prices. U.S. gasoline demand was at 9.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in the week ended July 5, the highest level since 2019 for the week that includes the Independence Day holiday, according to government data released on Wednesday.

Jet fuel demand on a four-week average basis was at its strongest since January 2020.

“The market will remain range-bound, paralyzed by opposing forces of expected demand recovery fueled by anticipation of a strong summer for fuel consumption … but sentiment remains pegged by ongoing economic weakness and uncertain demand recovery,” said Emril Jamil, a senior oil analyst at LSEG.

The strong fuel demand encouraged U.S. refiners to ramp up activity and draw from crude oil stockpiles. U.S. Gulf Coast refiners’ net input of crude rose last week to more than 9.4 million bpd for the first time since January 2019, government data showed.

However, weaker demand signs from China, the world’s largest oil importer, could counter the positive outlook from the U.S. and weigh on prices.

“The recent downside correction is evidently over, although the speed of further ascent might be hindered by falling Chinese crude oil imports, which plummeted 11% in June from the previous year,” said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM.

Up Next

Nigeria’s Oil Production Rises by 25,000 Barrels Daily, Hits 1.276 Million BPD in July

Don't Miss

NUPRC and Oil Producers Agree on Market Price Sales for Domestic Crude Supply

Samed Olukoya

Is the CEO and Founder of Investors King Limited. He is a seasoned foreign exchange research analyst and a published author on Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, Nasdaq, Entrepreneur.com, Investorplace, and other prominent platforms. With over two decades of experience in global financial markets, Olukoya is well-recognized in the industry.

Comments

Crude Oil

Oil Prices Rebound on OPEC+ Output Delay Talks and U.S. Inventory Drop

Published

2 days ago

September 5, 2024

Samed Olukoya

Oil prices made a modest recovery on Thursday on the expectations that OPEC+ may delay planned production increases and the drop in U.S. crude inventories.

Brent crude oil, against which Nigerian oil is priced, rose by 66 cents, or 0.9% to $73.36 per barrel while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude appreciated by 64 cents or 0.9% to $69.84 per barrel.

The rebound in oil prices was a result of the American Petroleum Institute (API) report that revealed that the U.S. crude oil inventories had fallen by a surprising 7.431 million barrels last week, against analysts 1 million barrel decline projection.

The decline signals better than projected demand for the commodity in the United States of America and offers some relief for traders on global demand.

John Evans, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates, attributed the rebound in crude oil prices to the API report.

He said, “There is a pause of breath and light reprieve for oil prices.”

Also, discussions within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, are fueling speculation about a potential delay in planned output increases.

The group was initially expected to increase production by 180,000 a day in October 2024.

However, concerns over softening demand in China and potential developments in Libya’s oil production have prompted the group to reconsider its strategy.

Despite the recent rebound, analysts caution that lingering uncertainties around global oil demand may continue to weigh on prices in the near term.

Crude Oil

Again NNPC Raises Petrol Price to N897/litre

Published

4 days ago

September 4, 2024

Investors King

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has once again increased the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from N855 per litre on Tuesday to N897 on Wednesday.

The increase was after Aliko Dangote, the Chairman of Dangote Refinery, announced the commencement of petrol production at its refinery.

The continuous increase in pump prices has raised concerns among Nigerians despite the initial excitement from the refinery announcement.

According to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the 650,000 barrels per day refinery will supply 25 million litres of petrol to the Nigerian market daily this September.

This, NMDPRA said will increase to 30 million litres per day in October.

However, the promise of increased fuel supply has not yet eased the situation on the ground.

Tunde Ayeni, a commercial bus driver at an NNPC station in Ikoyi, said “I have been in the queue since 6 a.m. waiting for them to start selling, but we just realised that the pump price has been changed to N897. This is terrible, and yet they still haven’t started selling the product.”

The price hike comes as NNPC continues to struggle with sustaining regular fuel supply.

On Sunday, the company warned that its ability to maintain steady distribution across the country was under threat due to financial strain.

NNPC cited rising supply costs as the cause of its difficulties in keeping up with demand.

Crude Oil

Brent and WTI Steady After Recent Losses as Libyan Oil Halt Continues

Published

5 days ago

September 2, 2024

Samed Olukoya

Oil prices stabilised on Monday as Libyan oil exports remained halted and following losses at the end of last week on expectations of higher OPEC+ production from October and signs of sluggish Chinese and U.S. demand.

Brent crude oil, against which Nigerian oil is priced, dipped by 6 cents, or 0.08% to close at $76.87 a barrel , while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude edged up 8 cents, or 0.11% to $73.63.

Monday marked a public holiday in the U.S. market.

On Friday Brent and WTI lost 1.4% and 3.1%, respectively.

Oil exports at major Libyan ports were halted on Monday and production curtailed across the country, six engineers told Reuters, continuing a standoff between rival political factions over control of the central bank and oil revenue.

Libya’s Arabian Gulf Oil Company resumed output of around 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) on Sunday, to feed a power plant at the port of Hariga.

“The current disturbances in Libya’s oil production could provide room for added supply from OPEC+. But these fluctuations have become quite normal over the last few years, meaning any outages will probably be shortlived; with the news flow indicating signals for a restart of production have already been given,” said Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodity analyst at SEB.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, together known as OPEC+, is set to proceed with planned increases to oil output from October, six sources from the producer group told Reuters.

Eight OPEC+ members are scheduled to boost output by 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) in October as part of a plan to begin unwinding their most recent supply cuts of 2.2 million bpd while keeping other cuts in place until the end of 2025.

Both Brent and WTI have posted losses for two consecutive months as U.S. and Chinese demand concerns have outweighed recent disruptions in Libya and supply risk related to conflict in the Middle East.

More pessimism about Chinese demand growth surfaced after an official survey showed on Saturday that manufacturing activity sank to a six-month low in August as factory gate prices tumbled and owners struggled for orders.

“The softer-than-expected China PMI released over the weekend heightens concerns that the Chinese economy will miss growth targets,” IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.

In the U.S., oil consumption in June dropped to seasonal lows last registered during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Energy Information Administration data showed on Friday.