Oil prices steady amid falling US
inventories, China concerns
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[July 17, 2024]
By Arunima Kumar
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Oil prices were steady on Wednesday, a day after
benchmark Brent hit a one-month low, as a decline in U.S. oil stockpiles
helped offset signs of weakening demand in China.
Brent crude oil futures were up just 1 cent, or 0.01%, to $83.74 a
barrel by 1013 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up
10 cents, or 0.12%, at $80.86. |
![](../images/071724PIX/busine69.jpg)
A view of the Phillips 66 Company's Los Angeles Refinery (foreground),
which processes domestic & imported crude oil into gasoline, aviation
and diesel fuels, and storage tanks for refined petroleum products at
the Kinder Morgan Carson Terminal (background), at sunset in Carson,
California, U.S., March 11, 2022. REUTERS/Bing Guan/File Photo |
"China's weaker economic performance and rising expectations for
a U.S. interest rate cut over the coming months have
counterbalanced each other," independent oil analyst Gaurav
Sharma said.
In the United States, the world's largest oil producer and
consumer, crude oil inventories fell by 4.4 million barrels in
the week ended July 12, market sources said, citing data from
the American Petroleum Institute.
Analysts polled by Reuters estimated crude stocks would fall by
33,000 barrels. The U.S. Energy Information Administration will
release its official storage report at 1430 GMT.
"The government data this afternoon is where the real story is,
but the precursor of U.S. oil stocks in the API data does not
exactly show much of an effect of Hurricane Beryl and the
shutting down of some the infrastructure that stood in its
path," PVM Oil analyst John Evans said.
Aiding oil prices were U.S. retail sales, which were unchanged
in June as a drop in receipts at auto dealerships was offset by
broad strength elsewhere, a display of consumer resilience that
bolstered economic growth prospects for the second quarter.
Rising geopolitical risk is also helping crude prices.
A Liberia-flagged oil tanker was assessing damage and
investigating a potential oil spill after it was attacked by
Yemen's Houthis in the Red Sea, the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden
Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, China, the world's top oil importer, saw its economy
grow 4.7% in the second quarter, official data showed earlier
this week, the slowest growth since the first quarter of 2023,
capping crude price gains.
"Any announcement from the Third Plenum in Beijing this week is
likely to shape the market sentiment due to the size and
importance of China's oil demand growth," said Rystad Energy's
senior oil analyst Svetlana Tretyakova referring to a key
economic leadership meeting.
(Reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru, Shariq Khan in New
York and Emily Chow in Singapore; editing by Subhranshu Sahu and
Jason Neely)
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