Beijing, April 5 (BNA): Oil prices rose on Wednesday, supported by expectations of lower US crude inventories as well as recent production cut targets set by the OPEC+ producer alliance.
Brent crude futures were up 45 cents, or 0.5 percent, at $85.39 a barrel by 03:52 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 40 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $81.11 a barrel.
These rises came at a time when an industrial report showed that US crude stocks fell by about 4.3 million barrels in the week ending March 31. An official inventory report is due by the US Energy Information Administration at 14:30 GMT on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
The continued addition of support was the latest supply-cutting targets set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+.
“Energy traders are still digesting the sudden production cut in OPEC + and any news that the oil market will remain tighter will send prices higher,” said Edward Moya, an analyst at OANDA.
The OPEC + plan will raise the total volume of cuts by the group to 3.66 million barrels per day, including a cut of two million barrels per day last October, equivalent to about 3.7 percent of global demand.
In Asia, data showed that Japan’s services sector grew in March at the fastest rate in more than nine years.
However, weak manufacturing activity in the US and China – the two largest oil consumers – has prevented oil prices from rising further, despite the prospect of supply tightening after the OPEC+ cuts.
Traders will look for clues about broader economic trends from the US non-farm payrolls data due later this week, analysts say.
“The US non-farm payrolls are probably the most influential economic data that drives broad market movements,” said Tina Ting, an analyst at CMC Markets.
HF