Crude oil futures remained steady during Asian trading hours on Friday, with benchmarks consolidating gains made in the latter part of the week.
As of 0825 GMT, front-month ICE Brent futures for August 2024 were trading at $79.73 per barrel, slightly down from Thursday’s close of $79.97 per barrel. Similarly, July 2024 NYMEX WTI was trading at $75.41 per barrel, compared to Thursday’s close of $75.55 per barrel.
Despite these gains, prices remained lower for the week, having dropped around 6% following last Sunday’s OPEC+ meeting. During the meeting, the group announced an extension of production curtailments but indicated it would begin unwinding some cuts starting in October.
Senior OPEC+ officials have since reassured the market that any production increases will depend on market conditions and that the unwinding of cuts could be paused if necessary. Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman stated, “It’s a year and a half agreement, it has all the mechanics, some of the mechanics are not new, we have also exercised it before… especially this issue of pausing or reversing.”
Last Friday, August 2024 Brent futures closed at $81.11 per barrel, while July 2024 WTI settled at $76.99 per barrel, with both benchmarks nearing the low end of their four-month trading range.
Markets received a boost from the European Central Bank’s decision to cut interest rates for the first time since 2019 on Thursday, lowering the deposit rate to 3.75% from a record-high 4.0%.
Investors are also closely watching the release of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls figures later on Friday, which could significantly influence the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decisions.
Meanwhile, China’s crude oil imports saw a rebound last month, despite sluggish demand limiting refinery throughputs. According to the latest customs data, China imported 46.97 million metric tons of crude in May, equivalent to 11.06 million barrels per day, marking a 1.6% increase from the previous month but still 8% lower year-on-year.
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