Oil Rises Demand Outlook Despite Release of China’s Fuel Reserves

Nov. 1 (Reuters) – Oil prices rose sharply on Monday, as expectations of strong demand and the belief that a key producer group won’t turn on the taps too quickly helped reverse the initial losses caused by the release of fuel reserves by the world’s No. 1 energy consumer in China.

Brent crude futures rose 84 cents, or 1%, to $ 84.56 a barrel at 12:49 p.m. EDT (4:49 p.m. GMT), after hitting a low of $ 83.03 in the session.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 61 cents, or 0.7%, to $ 84.18, after falling to $ 82.74 earlier.

Reuters poll showed oil prices are expected to hold near $ 80 by year-end as tight supplies and higher gas bills encourage a switch to crude for use as production fuel electricity. Read more

Oil hit multi-year highs last week, helped by a rebound in post-pandemic demand and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its Russia-led Allies, or OPEC +, sticking to production increases monthly increments of 400,000 barrels per day (bpd), despite calls for more oil from major consumers.

OPEC’s increase in oil production in October fell short of the expected increase under a deal with allies, a Reuters investigation revealed on Monday, as unintentional outages by some small producers offset increased supplies to Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Read more

Analysts expect OPEC + to stick to the 400,000 figure at its November 4 meeting, with members in Kuwait and Iraq having expressed support in recent days, saying those volumes were adequate. Read more

“We believe their position will be where the status quo is maintained while a ‘nod and a nod’ will be provided in agreeing to the quota violation if Brent values ​​gravitate again to new territory. 7 years, ”said Jim Ritterbusch. , president of Ritterbusch and Associates LLC in Galena, Illinois.

US President Joe Biden on Saturday urged key G20 energy-producing countries with slack capacity to step up production to ensure a stronger global economic recovery, as part of a broad-based effort to put pressure on OPEC + to increase supplies. Read more

Prices have risen despite the fact that China has said in a rare official statement that it has released reserves of gasoline and diesel to increase market supply and support price stability in some regions. Read more

Exxon (XOM.N) and Chevron (CVX.N) are looking to add drilling rigs to the Permian shale basin after sharply cutting crews and production in the region last year, the officials said on Friday. companies. Read more

Additional reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar, Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman, Mark Potter and Mark Heinrich

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