|
Brent crude futures rose 49 cents, or 0.63%, to $78.77 a barrel
at 1145 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate crude rose 58 cents,
or 0.79%, to $73.55 a barrel.
U.S. crude oil stockpiles fell unexpectedly in the week to March
24 to a two-year low, the Energy Information Administration said
on Wednesday. [EIA/S]
The 7.5 million-barrel drop in crude inventories compared with
analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 100,000-barrel
rise.
Further support came as exports from Iraq's northern region
remain halted.
Producers have shut in or reduced output at several oilfields in
the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq following
a halt to the northern export pipeline, with more outages on the
horizon, company statements showed.
But the Kurdistan-Iraq premium in oil prices could vanish sooner
than expected, analysts from Citi said Thursday.
The "changes in Iraq's domestic politics may lead to a durable
political settlement very soon", said Citi, estimating that
pipeline flows could grow by some 200,000 barrels per day (bpd).
These factors offset bearish sentiment following a
lower-than-expected cut to Russian crude oil production in the
first three weeks of March.
The 300,000 bpd production decline compared with targeted cuts
of 500,000 bpd, or around 5% of Russian output, sources familiar
with the data told Reuters.
Looking ahead, markets will be keeping an eye on U.S. spending
and inflation data due on Friday and the resulting impact on the
value of the U.S. dollar.
"While we think oil prices may remain volatile in the near term,
we still expect rising Chinese crude imports and lower Russian
production to lift prices over the coming quarters," UBS said in
a note on Thursday.
China's refined fuel consumption this year is likely to grow 3%
from pre-COVID levels in 2019, state energy giant PetroChina
said on Thursday.
"If all goes as expected, and we manage to avoid a recession,
oil prices will dance around $75-$85/bbl in the coming months,"
FGE analysts said in a note.
(Reporting by Rowena Edwards in London; additional reporting by
Jeslyn Lerh in Singapore; editing by Sharon Singleton and Jason
Neely)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
