© Reuters.
LCO
+1.78%
Add to/Remove from Watchlist
Add to Watchlist
Add Position
Position added successfully to:
Please name your holdings portfolio
Type:
BUY
SELL
Date:
Amount:
Price
Point Value:
Leverage:
1:1
1:10
1:25
1:50
1:100
1:200
1:400
1:500
1:1000
Commission:
Create New Watchlist
Create
Create a new holdings portfolio
Add
Create
+ Add another position
Close
CL
+2.30%
Add to/Remove from Watchlist
Add to Watchlist
Add Position
Position added successfully to:
Please name your holdings portfolio
Type:
BUY
SELL
Date:
Amount:
Price
Point Value:
Leverage:
1:1
1:10
1:25
1:50
1:100
1:200
1:400
1:500
1:1000
Commission:
Create New Watchlist
Create
Create a new holdings portfolio
Add
Create
+ Add another position
Close
Investing.com– Oil prices rose Wednesday as steady production cuts by OPEC+ heralded tighter supplies while comments from Fed chief Jerome Powell signalled rate cuts ahead to stimulate the world’s largest economy.
By 10:15 ET (15.15 GMT), the U.S. crude futures traded 2.2% higher at $79.84 a barrel and the Brent contract climbed 1.6% to $83.37 a barrel.
Tighter supplies ahead
Crude prices have rebounded from the prior session’s steep losses after Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, announced earlier Wednesday slightly higher prices for April crude sales to Asia, its biggest market.
This followed Sunday’s news that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, extended output cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day until the end of the second quarter.
The extension has created some supply tightness, particularly in Asian markets, along with the disruption in oil tanker movements as a result of the Red Sea attacks by the Houthi militia in Yemen.
Powell sees rate cuts later in year
Adding to the positive news Wednesday, Fed chief Powell stated that the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee “does not expect that it will be appropriate” to slash borrowing costs down from more than two-decade highs at this point.
However, Powell also noted that the Fed’s recent tightening cycle is “likely” at its peak, adding that, should the economy evolve as expected, “it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year.”
A cut in interest rates would likely stimulate activity in the world’s largest consumer of energy.
US inventories grow less than expected – API
The oil markets were nursing steep losses from the prior session after top importer China unveiled a largely underwhelming economic growth target for 2024, potentially heralding weak crude demand in the country.
Industry data showing a smaller-than-expected build in U.S. inventories also helped limit losses in oil prices. Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed that U.S. crude inventories grew a substantially less than expected 0.4 million barrels in the week to March 1, compared with expectations of 2.6 million barrels and the prior week’s build of 8.2 million barrels.
The trend comes as more U.S. refineries restart production after an extended winter and maintenance break- a trend that is expected to further tighten crude markets in the world’s biggest fuel consumer.
The API data usually heralds a similar trend in official inventory data, which is due later in the day. But U.S. crude inventories have also seen five straight weeks of outsized builds.
(Ambar Warrick contributed to this article.)
Source: Investing.com