Beijing, March 13 (BNA): Oil prices rose Monday in late Asian trade, reversing a weak start as recovering Chinese demand and a weaker dollar supported a market jolted by the prospect of further US interest rate increases.
After the initial slide, Brent crude futures rose 19 cents, or 0.23%, to $82.97 a barrel by 04:10 GMT.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 20 cents, or 0.26%, to $76.88 a barrel, according to Reuters.
Market sentiment was fragile as concerns about further monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve were exacerbated by rising US crude inventories, analysts from ANZ Bank noted in a note Monday morning.
It’s like a battle of rising activity data in the east meets total malaise in the west, said Stephen Innes, managing partner of SPI Asset Management, commenting on the competing sentiment drivers in the crude oil market.
A weaker dollar makes oil cheaper for holders of other currencies, which supports oil prices.
The failure of Silicon Valley Bank and New York-based Signature Bank and concerns about possible contagion led to a sell-off in US assets at the end of last week, which also caused downward pressure on the dollar.
Comments on Sunday on demand for crude oil from China also provided some support.
Saudi Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said that if you think about China’s opening up and recovery in jet fuel and very limited spare capacity, we’re talking about two million barrels, so as I said we’re cautiously optimistic in the short to medium term and the market will remain tight. balanced.
The beginning of oil’s volatility this week comes after the positive momentum on Friday, when the US employment data came surprisingly to the upside.
February data beat expectations, with non-farm payrolls increasing by 311,000 jobs, compared to expectations for an addition of 205,000 jobs, according to a Reuters survey.
From a mid-to-long term supply perspective, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co (BKR.O) said Friday that US energy companies this week reduced the number of operating oil and natural gas rigs for the fourth consecutive week for the first time. Since July 2020.
NAA