Dash Talk

Oil holds near $44, heads for weekly drop on demand concerns

FILE PHOTO: The sun sets behind a crude oil pump jack on a drill pad in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S. November 24, 2019. REUTERS/Angus Mordant

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil held around $44 a barrel on Friday and was heading for its biggest weekly decline since June, as weak demand figures added to concerns of a slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A U.S. government report showed domestic gasoline demand fell in the latest week [EIA/S]. Middle distillates inventories at Asia’s oil hub Singapore have soared above a nine-year high, official data showed..

Brent crude LCOc1, the international benchmark, was up 5 cents, or 0.1%, to $44.12 at 0745 GMT, heading for a 2.3% drop this week. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 fell 3 cents to $41.34, set for the first weekly drop in five weeks.

In focus on Friday will be U.S. payrolls figures at 1230 GMT, which could be a selling trigger if an expected slowdown in hiring is steeper than forecast. The unemployment rate is expected to fall to 9.8% from 10.2%.

“Demand concerns are firmly front and centre of traders’ minds,” said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM. “Today’s non-farm U.S. payroll report will be closely watched and a disappointing number could be the next bearish catalyst.”

FGE analysts said rising coronavirus cases worldwide and renewed lockdowns would dash hopes of a drawdown in oil inventories for some time. The pressure remains on refiners to keep operating rates low, FGE said.

Oil has recovered from April, when Brent slumped to a 21-year low below $16 and U.S. crude briefly went into negative territory.

A record supply cut since May by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, a grouping known as OPEC+, has supported prices.

OPEC began in August to ease the volume of the cutback, raising output by almost 1 million barrels per day according to a Reuters survey. [OPEC/O]

Additional reporting by Florence Tan and Koustav Samanta; Editing by Mark Potter

Related posts

This Week In Dash: October 7th – October 12th | dashnews

Samantha Doyle

Virtual Currency Market Analysis, Trends, Growth, Size, Share and Forecast 2019 to 2025

Samantha Doyle

Cryptocurrency Trading Tools you Need

Samantha Doyle

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Read More