Crude oil traded higher on Thursday morning as the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast an increase in the global oil demand in 2023.
At 9.52 am on Thursday, April Brent oil futures were up by 0.52 per cent at $85.82 and March crude oil futures on WTI increased by 0.52 per cent to $79.11 . February crude oil futures were trading at ₹6,539 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) in the initial trading hour of Thursday morning against the previous close of ₹6485, up by 0.83 per cent, and March futures were trading at ₹6,575 against the previous close of ₹6,526, up by 0.75 per cent.
Rise after modest contraction
IEA’s Oil Market Report for February 2023 said that global oil demand is set to rise by 2 million barrels a day in 2023 to 1,01.9 million barrels a day. This follows a modest year-on-year contraction in the fourth quarter of 2022. It said the Asia-Pacific region (+1.6 million barrels a day), fuelled by a resurgent China (+900,000 barrels a day), dominates the growth outlook. Mentioning that the reopening of borders will boost air traffic, the report said the jet/kerosene demand is expected to increase by 1.1 million barrels a day to 7.2 million barrels a day, which is 90 per cent of the 2019 levels.However, the petroleum status report for the week ended February 10, which was released by the US EIA (Energy Information Administration) on February 15, showed a huge increase in the crude oil inventories in the US. The US commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the strategic petroleum reserve) increased by 16.3 million barrels from the previous week. At 471.4 million barrels, US crude oil inventories were about 8 per cent above the five-year average for this time of year. Total products supplied in the US over the last four-week period averaged 19.8 million barrels a day, down by 10.2 per cent from the same period last year. US crude oil imports averaged 6.2 million barrels a day last week, a decrease of 826,000 barrels a day from the previous week.
Jeera gains but below ₹31,000
February natural gas futures were trading at ₹205.90 on MCX in the initial trading hour of Thursday morning against the previous close of ₹208.50, down by 1.25 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), March steel long contracts were trading at ₹48,480 in the initial trading hour on Thursday against the previous close of ₹48,280, up by 0.41 per cent. March jeera futures were trading at ₹30,980 on NCDEX in the initial trading hour on Thursday against the previous close of ₹31,040, down by 0.19 per cent.SHARE
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