Oil prices gain on hope OPEC filling Russian supply shortfall

[ASEAN NOW News]

 

ANKARA – Oil prices rebounded on Thursday following a sharp drop late on Wednesday as the market weighed expectations of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) producers boosting production to fill the shortfall in Russian supplies.

 

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $112.66 per barrel at 0627 GMT for a 1.4-percent gain after closing the previous session at $111.14 a barrel.

 

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $109.25 per barrel at the same time for a 0.5-percent increase after the previous session closed at $108.70 a barrel.

 

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ambassador to Washington Yousef Al Otaiba said his country favors an oil production increase and will encourage OPEC to raise its production levels on Wednesday.

 

"The UAE has been a reliable and responsible supplier of energy to global markets for more than 50 years and believes that stability in energy markets is critical to the global economy," Al Otaiba said in a statement.

 

US Secretary of State Antony Antony Blinken welcomed the UAE's support for higher production before adding: "stabilize global energy markets, to make sure that there remains an abundant supply of energy around the world."

 

After the successive statements signaling a production boost in an already tight market, prices dropped 15 percent and retreated to $110 late on Wednesday, marking the biggest daily drop in nearly two years.

 

However, prices began to revive on Thursday, ahead of the critical tripartite meeting with the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Russia that Turkiye is hosting to facilitate a ceasefire as the war enters day 15.

 

The decline in US commercial crude oil and gasoline inventories also supported prices. The country's commercial crude oil inventories decreased by 0.5 percent during the week ending March 4, according to the latest data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

 

Inventories fell by 1.9 million barrels to 411.6 million barrels compared to the market expectation of a fall of 833,000 barrels.

 

Gasoline inventories also dropped by 1.4 million barrels to 244.6 million barrels over that period. (Anadolu)

 

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