👀 Ones to watch: The MOST undervalued stocks to buy right nowSee Undervalued Stocks

Brent crude floats near $70 on demand recovery anticipation

Published 15/03/2021, 02:15
© Reuters.
LCO
-
CL
-

By Florence Tan
SINGAPORE, March 15 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged up on
Monday, with Brent drifting near $70 a barrel, propped up by
output cuts from major producers and optimism about global
economic and fuel demand recovery in the second half of the
year.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 for May gained 23 cents, or
0.3%, to $69.45 a barrel by 0102 GMT while U.S. West Texas
Intermediate crude CLc1 for April was at $65.90 a barrel, up
29 cents, or 0.4%.
Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has cut the supply of
April-loading crude to at least four north Asian buyers by up to
15%, while meeting the normal monthly requirements of Indian
refiners, refinery sources told Reuters on Friday. The supply cuts come as the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as
OPEC+, decided earlier this month to extend most of its supply
cuts into April.
Investors are expecting China to release positive economic
data on Monday, supporting forecasts of stronger growth at the
world's second largest oil consumer.
"China data due today could be highly influential," Michael
McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney,
wrote.
"Both industrial production and retail sales are expected to
show very strong bounces, largely due to the year on year
compassion with a Lunar New Year holiday and lockdown affected
period last year."
In the United States, oil refiners' weekly capacity were
seen up 1.6 million barrels per day, research company IIR Energy
said on Friday, as more plants resume operations following
outages during the severe winter storm in Texas last month.
Separately, U.S. energy firms have cut the number of oil and
natural gas rigs operating by one in the first weekly drop since
November, according to Baker Hughes Co.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.