Oil advanced amid a risk-on tone across markets Friday, but remains on track for a weekly decline ahead on an OPEC+ meeting.
(Bloomberg) — Oil advanced amid a risk-on tone across markets Friday, but remains on track for a weekly decline ahead on an OPEC+ meeting.
West Texas Intermediate futures rose toward $71 a barrel, trimming the weekly loss to almost 3%. The OPEC+ coalition gathers over the weekend to discuss the group’s production policy against the backdrop of a sluggish economic recovery from China, despite the end of the nation’s Covid Zero regime.
Most market watchers expect OPEC+ to keep output levels unchanged, although the group did unveil surprise cuts in April and Saudi Arabia’s energy minister recently warned speculators to “watch out.” Crude is down around 12% this year, in part due to resilient crude exports from Russia.
“For OPEC right now, I think it is about saying: are we actually getting the meaningful cuts that we want?” Edward Bell, head of market economics at Emirates NBD PJSC, said on Bloomberg television. “There is going to be a time when you can’t keep using the same card to get the same kind of effect.”
Equity markets across Asia rose on Friday as concerns over further interest-rate hikes from the Federal Reserve eased, while news that Congress had passed legislation to avert a US default added to positive sentiment.
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US crude stockpiles rose by about 4.5 million barrels last week, while supplies at the key storage hub at Cushing, Oklahoma, expanded for a sixth week, according to Energy Information Administration data released Thursday.
–With assistance from Verity Ratcliffe.
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