Oil prices rose about 2 per cent on Friday and were on course for a second consecutive week of gains as US producers rapidly shut crude production and more states moved ahead with plans to relax lockdowns intended to prevent the spread of the worst public health crisis in a generation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Brent crude was up 62 cents, or 2.1 per cent, to $30.08 a barrel by \n11:10 a.m. ET (1510 GMT). US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained \n59 cents, or 2.5 per cent, to $24.14 a barrel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both contracts are heading for the second week of gains, with Brent \nadvancing over 14 percent this week and WTI up more than 22 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This advance of the past couple of weeks has been a bit suspect \ngiven the fact that coronavirus cases continue to increase and the US \ncrude surplus is maintaining a steep uptrend where a record US stock \nlevel is likely to be achieved in next week’s EIA report,” Jim \nRitterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, \nIllinois, said in a report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on Wednesday\n showed 15 weeks of consecutive rises in crude stocks although the rate \nof growth in inventories has slowed since a record build of 19 million \nbarrels in early April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, North American oil companies have shut production faster \nthan analysts expected and are on track to withdraw about 1.7 million \nbarrels per day (bpd) of output by the end of June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The number of oil and gas rigs operating in the United States is \nexpected to hit an all-time low this week – reflecting data going back \n80 years. Data for this week is due after 1 p.m. (1700 GMT).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These commercially-driven cuts are in addition to those by \nOrganization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led \nby Russia, a group know as OPEC+, which began implementing a deal to \ncurb a record 9.7 million bpd from the start of May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The market remains much oversupplied, but OPEC+ cuts and voluntary \ncurtailments are helping and the modest beginnings of demand recovery \ncould be imminent as lockdowns begin to ease,” said Jefferies equity \nanalyst Jason Gammel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australia on Friday became the latest country to plan an easing of \nlockdowns, while France, parts of the United States, and countries such \nas Pakistan are also planning to ease restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Market participants are watching as the economic crisis unfolding in \nthe United States affects oil demand in the coming months. The world’s \nbiggest economy lost a staggering 20.5 million jobs in April, the \nsteepest plunge in payrolls since the Great Depression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Price-wise, we still expect to see some mild (if not wild) price \nswings as the traders get bullish on shut-ins and then again bearish on \nthe stock builds that continue to pile up,” said Rystad Energy oil \nmarkets analyst Louise Dickson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Oil prices rose about 2 per cent on Friday and were on course for a second consecutive week of gains as US producers rapidly shut crude production and more states moved ahead with plans to relax lockdowns intended to prevent the spread of the worst public health crisis in a generation. Brent crude was up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,8],"tags":[28,639,178,56,1158,300,213,1160,1159],"yoast_head":"\n