Data showing that China’s crude imports have declined in the first half of 2021 has raised fuel demand. However, the black liquid is still close to a week high as supply concerns persist with the economic recovery from COVID-19.
Brent oil futures rose 0.34% to $ 76.23 during the previous session. WTI futures were down 0.45% at $ 74.91 after gaining 1.6% on Tuesday.
Crude imports in China, the world’s largest oil importer, are said to have fallen by 20% from January to June by 3% year-on-year. Lack of import quota, refinery maintenance, and rising global prices have led to a decline in purchases, resulting in a similar contraction since 2013.
“Imports were cut again as rising prices for crude oil eroded refining profit margins … If OPEC + does not agree to raise supplies sooner, higher oil prices could lead to the destruction of even more price-sensitive emerging markets,” Eurasia Group analysts said in a statement.
This note refers to the current disagreement on supply policy within the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC +), which has left production boosting for August, now less than three weeks away. The cartel has not yet met after negotiations at the beginning of the month ended without an agreement.
Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency predicts that global deviations from storage in the third quarter of 2021 will be the highest in at least a decade, with the US Thank you for participating in Europe and Japan.
U.S. Petroleum’s U.S. crude oil supply data released on Tuesday showed a balance of 4.079 million barrels for the week ended July. 9. The draw is smaller than both the 4.333 million barrel draw on Investing.com and forecasts recorded a 7.983 million barrel draw in the previous week.
Investors are now flocking to the U.S. Waiting for crude oil supply data from the Energy Information Administration.
