Respite for oil market amid rate hike worries
Oil steadied on Thursday as a potential pause in US interest rate hikes and the passing of a crucial vote on the US debt ceiling bill were offset by a report of rising inventories in the world’s biggest oil consumer.
US Federal Reserve officials on Wednesday suggested interest rates could be kept on hold this month and the US House of Representatives passed a bill suspending the government’s debt ceiling, improving the chance of averting a disastrous default.
Brent crude futures fell 10 cents, or 0.14 percent, to $72.50 a barrel by 1339 GMT while US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 7 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $68.16. Both benchmarks fell on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“Oil markets may have been oversold in the last two trading days,” said CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng. “Sentiment rebounded amid the debt bill’s passage in the House and (the) Fed’s rate hike pause signal.”
Mixed demand indications from China, the world’s biggest oil importer, have nonetheless weighed on the market, as has industry data showing a rise in US crude inventories.
Market sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures on Wednesday said that US crude inventories rose by about 5.2 million barrels last week.
“The current mood is one of pessimism,” said Tamas Varga of oil broker PVM. “Investors have been pragmatic and risk averse of late.”
Also in focus is the June 4 meeting of the OPEC+ producer group, in which the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia will discuss whether or not to cut oil production further.
Barclays forecast
British multinational bank Barclays has slashed the average price of its Brent crude forecast for this year from $92 to $87 a barrel. The bank also slashed its price forecast of Brent for 2024 as it cut the average projected price to $87 a barrel from $97.
Chinese company in Brazil
China’s CNOOC Ltd. has begun production at the Buzios5 well off the coast of Brazil, the company said in a statement on Thursday.
The well is the fifth phase of the Buzios oil field off Brazil’s southeast coast. At an average water depth of 1,900 meters to 2,200 meters, the field is the world’s largest deep-water pre-salt oil field, with daily production of 600,000 barrels, the company said.
CNOOC’s Brazilian subsidiary owns 7.34 percent of the Buzios shared reservoir, which is 88.99 percent owned by Brazilian state-owned oil and gas company Petrobras. CNOOC paid $1.9 billion to Petrobras last year to secure a 5 percent stake in a production sharing agreement at the field.