By Gina Lee
Investing.com – Oil was up Thursday morning in Asia as investors continue to expect fuel demand to recover by the summer, despite ever-surging numbers of COVID-19 cases in countries such as India, Japan and Brazil.
Brent oil futures gained 0.36% to $67.32 by 11:37 PM ET (3:37 AM GMT) and WTI futures were up 0.31% to $64.06.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) will gradually ease their current oil production curbs from May to July, as it forecasted a demand growth to 6 million barrels per day for 2021. The cartel also forecasts global stockpiles to reach 2.95 billion barrels by July, below the average level recorded between 2015 to 2019.
"A closer look at the state of global oil inventories suggests that the market may be closer to the point of rebalancing than what OPEC+ may think," Citi analysts said in a note, adding that most of the crude inventory overhang has already been absorbed by the market.
On the demand side, investors are looking to record oil demand in the summer as COVID-19 vaccination rates in North America and Europe accelerate. However, the continuously rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in India and Brazil could lead to tighter lockdowns and hit the crude oil demand.
In Asia, fuel demand is expected to increase in China ahead of a five-day holiday starting Saturday.
Also on the supply side, Wednesday’s U.S. crude oil supply data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration recorded a build of 90,000 barrels for the week to Apr. 23. Forecasts prepared by Investing.com predicted a 659,000-barrel build, while a 594,000-barrel build was recorded during the previous week.
Supply data from the American Petroleum Institute the day before showed a build of 4.319 million barrels.