Global crude oil news

20 Oct 2022 , 08:58 AM

Early Asian trading on Thursday saw a mixed start for oil prices as investors weighed weaker demand forecasts against concern over tightening supplies.

The price of Brent crude futures for December settlement had decreased by 28 cents, or 0.3%, to $92.13 per barrel. WTI, the US West Texas Intermediate crude contract for November delivery, increased 34 cents, or 0.4%, to $85.89 a barrel as of Thursday.

President of the United States Joe Biden stated in remarks on Wednesday that he intends to sell 15 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and repurchase oil if prices decline sufficiently. The 180 million barrels of oil that were going to be sold were going to be the last to be sold, according to an announcement made shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers, including Russia, together known as OPEC+, reduced output by 2 million barrels per day and threatened to impose an embargo on Russian crude and oil products, which supported prices.

Fuel demand is still unknown on a global scale. According to a survey released on Wednesday by the Federal Reserve, US economic activity increased slightly in recent weeks, despite being flat in some areas and declining in a few others. The research also revealed that businesses are becoming more gloomy about the future.

In contrast to predictions for an increase of 1.4 million barrels, US crude stocks unexpectedly decreased last week, falling by 1.7 million barrels, according to weekly official statistics. The lowest SPR levels since May 1984, decreased by 3.6 million barrels to slightly over 405 million.

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