AGL 40.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.16 (-0.4%)
AIRLINK 129.53 Decreased By ▼ -2.20 (-1.67%)
BOP 6.68 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.15%)
CNERGY 4.63 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (3.58%)
DCL 8.94 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.36%)
DFML 41.69 Increased By ▲ 1.08 (2.66%)
DGKC 83.77 Decreased By ▼ -0.31 (-0.37%)
FCCL 32.77 Increased By ▲ 0.43 (1.33%)
FFBL 75.47 Increased By ▲ 6.86 (10%)
FFL 11.47 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.06%)
HUBC 110.55 Decreased By ▼ -1.21 (-1.08%)
HUMNL 14.56 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (1.75%)
KEL 5.39 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (3.26%)
KOSM 8.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-6.46%)
MLCF 39.79 Increased By ▲ 0.36 (0.91%)
NBP 60.29 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
OGDC 199.66 Increased By ▲ 4.72 (2.42%)
PAEL 26.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.15%)
PIBTL 7.66 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (2.41%)
PPL 157.92 Increased By ▲ 2.15 (1.38%)
PRL 26.73 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.19%)
PTC 18.46 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (0.87%)
SEARL 82.44 Decreased By ▼ -0.58 (-0.7%)
TELE 8.31 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (0.97%)
TOMCL 34.51 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.12%)
TPLP 9.06 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (2.84%)
TREET 17.47 Increased By ▲ 0.77 (4.61%)
TRG 61.32 Decreased By ▼ -1.13 (-1.81%)
UNITY 27.43 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.04%)
WTL 1.38 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (7.81%)
BR100 10,407 Increased By 220 (2.16%)
BR30 31,713 Increased By 377.1 (1.2%)
KSE100 97,328 Increased By 1781.9 (1.86%)
KSE30 30,192 Increased By 614.4 (2.08%)

LONDON: Oil prices rose on Wednesday amid caution as bullish signals like falling U.S. crude stocks in a generally tight market were countered by bearish factors such as uncertain Chinese demand growth, lower gas prices and U.S. stocks releases.

Brent crude futures for December settlement rose 31 cents, or 0.3%, to $90.34 a barrel by 1209 GMT. Earlier in the session, Brent hit a low of $89.32.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery, expiring on Thursday, was at $83.53 a barrel, up 71 cents, or 0.9%. The December contract was at $82.63, up 56 cents, or 0.7%.

In the previous session, the contracts fell to their lowest in two weeks on reports of U.S. President Joe Biden’s plans to release more barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

British and Dutch wholesale gas prices fell this week on the back of mild weather, full gas storage tanks and plentiful liquefied natural gas tanker arrivals.

“The outlook for European gas prices over the coming months has taken a knock and with it the prospects for gas-to-oil switching,” said PVM analyst Stephen Brennock.

China this week postponed the release of some key economic data, a highly unusual move stoking fears of weak growth.

Oil prices fall more than 3pc on US supply, lower China demand

But there were also some signs of resurgent Chinese oil demand, including private mega refiner Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp (ZPC) and state-run ChemChina receiving further import quotas.

The pending European Union ban on Russian crude and oil products and the output cut from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers including Russia, a group known as OPEC+, of 2 million barrels per day also supported prices.

“With Brent stabilising around $90 and WTI between $80 and $85, you have to wonder how OPEC+ countries will feel about how the markets are positioned and whether further cuts could be considered,” OANDA analyst Craig Erlam said.

The EU’s sanctions on Russian crude and oil products will take effect in December and February, respectively.

“Prices need to rise above $100 a barrel in the coming months to slow demand growth and restore the supply-demand balance, in our view, given that oil inventories stand at a multi-year low,” said UBS analysts in a note.

In the United States, crude oil stockpiles fell about 1.3 million barrels, according to market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures.

Official data is due at 10:30 a.m. (1430 GMT).

Comments

Comments are closed.