Oil prices fall on strong supply outlook

 

Oil prices edged lower on Friday on signs of strong Russian oil supplies and hopes of a sharp recovery in Chinese demand.

Oil prices edged lower on Friday, ending their weekly less than flat, as signs of stronger Russian oil supplies fueled better-than-expected US economic growth data, firmer middle distillate refining margins and hopes of a faster recovery in Chinese demand. offset.

Brent futures were down 81 cents, or 0.9%, at $86.66 a barrel, up just 3 cents from last week's settlement. US crude fell $1.33, or 1.6%, to $79.68, down 2% for the week.

Oil shipments from Russia's Baltic ports are set to rise this month by as much as 50% from December as sellers try to meet strong demand in Asia and benefit from rising global energy prices, traders said, and Reuters calculations showed Let's go

Ural and KEBCO crude shipments from Ust-Luga from February 1-10 could rise to 1.0 million tonnes from 0.9 million in the plan for the same period in January, traders also said.

"If Russian supplies remain strong next month, oil will likely continue to slide lower," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.

He added that profit-booking ahead of the weekend could also push the prices lower.

US energy firms held oil and natural gas rigs steady at 771 this week, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co BKR.O said in its closely followed report on Friday.

Meanwhile, representatives of OPEC+ meet next week to review crude production levels, with sources in the oil producer group expecting no changes to the current production policy.


The US Federal Reserve's next decision on interest rates will be made at meetings on January 31 and February 1 against the backdrop of a decline in inflation and GDP, which grew a faster than expected 2.9% in the fourth quarter.

A 4.2 million barrel build in stocks this week at Cushing, the pricing center for NYMEX oil futures, also weighed on the market. [EIA/S]

In China, critically ill COVID-19 cases are down 72% from their peak earlier this month, while daily deaths of COVID-19 patients in hospitals have declined 79% from their peak, indicating normalization of the Chinese economy. And points to raising expectations. Improvement in oil demand.