About 2024, oil prices will peak due to US economic expansion and Middle East worries

About 2024, oil prices will peak due to US economic expansion and Middle East worries

About 2024, oil prices will peak due to US economic expansion and Middle East worries

Prices dropped on Friday on hopes that the Red Sea delays to oil transport would lessen, as Chinese officials have requested Iran to assist in reducing assaults on ships by the Houthis, who are supported by Iran, or to improve trade relations with Beijing. have assumed the danger of doing damage.

While the US benchmark was expected to gain 4.7% for the week, Brent was expected to advance 4.3%.

Oil was poised for a second weekly increase on Friday, trading close to 2024 highs as signals of optimistic US economic growth and Chinese stimulus bolstered demand optimism. Middle East production worries provided further support.

According to data released on Thursday, the US economy—which consumes the most oil globally—grew more quickly than anticipated in the fourth quarter. China, the second-largest consumer, announced a significant reduction in bank reserves this week in an effort to spur economic development.

As of 09:07 GMT, Brent oil futures were down 46 cents, or 0.6%, at $81.97 a barrel. The intraday high of $82.57 on Thursday was the highest price this year in the U.S. At $76.87, West Texas Intermediate crude had dropped 49 cents, or 0.6%.

With respect to the US, oil trader Tamas Varga of PVM said, "The economy has remarkably navigated the storm caused by the last rate hike and continues strong into early 2024." Reduction of sugar reserves, according to him, is "another welcome development".

While the US benchmark was expected to gain 4.7% for the week, Brent was expected to advance 4.3%. Both the weekly uptick and the Israel-Hamas fighting in Gaza were expected to occur for the second week in a row.Since the beginning of the crisis on October 13, it was their largest weekly increase.

As Chinese authorities have requested Iran to assist in reducing ship assaults by the Iran-backed Houthis, or face harm to trade relations with Beijing, prices dipped on Friday on the likelihood that the interruptions to oil transport in the Red Sea may reduce. has assumed the chance to deliver.

However, Yep Jun Rong, market analyst at IG in Singapore, said that prior actions by US and UK troops in the Red Sea did not halt the strikes, which persisted in upsetting investors' pricing.

The way that Brent futures are structured makes supply issues clear. The first-to-sixth-month contract's premium increased to $2.58, the highest level since November. This arrangement suggests that rigorous rapid supply is assumed.

This week, worries about fuel supply interruptions after a Ukrainian drone strike on an export-oriented oil facility in southern Russia, as well as a greater-than-expected fall in US crude stocks, all contributed to the increase in oil prices.