
Please try another search
(Bloomberg) -- Oil held the bulk of a three-day advance to trade above $71 a barrel on optimism that rising demand will tighten the global market.
West Texas Intermediate was 0.3% lower in early Asian trading after rallying more than 8% in the preceding three sessions. The run of gains means prices are little changed on the week, having recouped almost all of Monday’s slump, when crude plunged amid concern the spread of the delta coronavirus variant would crimp consumption just as the OPEC+ alliance added more barrels.
Crude has rallied this year as the rollout of vaccines permits economies to reopen, stoking energy demand and draining the glut that built up during the pandemic. While the emergence and spread of the highly infectious delta variant has set back that process, especially in parts of Asia, investors are betting the broader positive narrative remains intact. Data this week showed gasoline demand is essentially back to normal in many of the biggest oil-consuming countries, as well as lower crude holdings at the key Cushing hub.
Still, challenges remain. The U.S. is “at another pivotal moment,” with Covid-19 cases once again climbing and beds at some hospitals filling up, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Europe, the number of infections in France has more than doubled in the past week.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies plan to add 400,000 barrels a day to the market in August and in subsequent months until supply cuts imposed at the outset of the pandemic have been fully reversed. Additional supplies this half may come from Iran should Tehran manage to strike a nuclear deal permitting U.S. sanctions on its crude to be lifted.
Brent’s prompt time spread was 62 cents a barrel in backwardation on Friday. That’s a bullish pattern -- with near-dated prices above those further out -- and unchanged from the level seen a week ago.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Oil prices pulled back slightly on Tuesday on the latest progress in last-ditch talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear accord, which would clear the way to...
By Victoria Waldersee and Martin Schlicht SOLTAU, Germany (Reuters) - Shouting over the clanging of machinery, Gerd Roeders is reluctantly preparing for the temporary shutdown of...
By Ambar Warrick Investing.com-- Gold prices held on to recent gains on Tuesday as volatility in stock markets ahead of a closely-watched U.S. inflation figure this week drove up...
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
I feel that this comment is:
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.