Commodities and Futures News

Oil prices steady after sharp declines on weak U.S. demand

2022.07.22 04:37

Oil prices steady after sharp declines on weak U.S. demand
FILE PHOTO: Crude oil storage tanks are seen at the Kinder Morgan terminal in Sherwood Park, near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada November 14, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Helgren

By Sonali Paul

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Oil prices were roughly unchanged in early trading on Friday after sliding around 3% in the previous session on weakened demand in the United States, the world’s top oil consumer, and a pick-up in supply from Libya.

Brent crude futures rose 17 cents, or 0.2%, to $104.03 a barrel at 0041 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were flat at $96.35 a barrel.

WTI has been pummelled over the past two sessions after data showed that U.S. gasoline demand had dropped nearly 8% from a year earlier in the midst of the peak summer driving season, hit by record prices at the pump.

“At 8.52 million barrels per day, demand is at its lowest seasonal level since 2008, as high gasoline prices take their toll on consumers,” ANZ Research analysts said in a note.

The drop in WTI put the contract on track for a 1.3% drop this week, which would be its third consecutive weekly loss.

In contrast, signs of strong demand in Asia propped up the Brent benchmark, putting it on course for its first weekly gain in six weeks.

Demand in India for gasoline and distillate fuels rose to record highs in June, despite higher prices, with total refined product consumption running at 18% more than a year ago and Indian refineries operating near their busiest levels ever, RBC analysts said.

“This signals much more than a strong recovery from COVID-plagued years,” RBC analyst Michael Tran said in a note.

On the supply side, the restart of output at several oilfields in Libya this week kept a lid on Brent’s gains.

Meanwhile the European Central Bank (ECB) raised rates more than expected on Thursday looking to rein in inflation, with ECB President Christine Lagarde warning that inflation risks had intensified, with the Ukraine war likely to drag on and energy prices likely to stay high for longer.

“Is the horizon clouded? Of course it is,” Lagarde said.

However, she said, the central bank’s base case is there will be no recession this year or next year.

Source

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 96,557.87 1.38%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,324.42 2.75%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.12%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 247.49 3.61%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 652.06 1.15%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 1.35 7.55%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.415032 3.72%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.02%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.978896 7.55%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,321.91 2.78%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.20469 4.27%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 39.64 5.91%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 6.14 4.33%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000025 3.58%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.478547 5.92%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,926.97 3.00%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 96,283.80 1.32%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 8.44 1.54%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 16.71 4.97%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 504.96 0.90%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,323.43 2.87%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.32 4.21%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.00002 4.58%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 8.56 1.18%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 6.41 2.65%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 94.37 4.64%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 11.89 6.54%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 10.41 4.47%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,501.36 2.78%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.141365 6.92%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.04%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 10.70 6.07%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.184244 5.29%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.539985 5.56%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 27.82 6.49%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.50 8.23%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 7.49 4.32%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.13%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.149489 4.97%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 505.43 1.86%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.37 1.53%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 0.999586 0.08%
bonk
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000045 7.25%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.821664 3.51%
celestia
Celestia (TIA) $ 7.71 11.05%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.66 0.40%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.040252 6.57%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.40 0.02%
cosmos
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 8.27 0.34%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 52.90 4.32%