ISLAMABAD: Oil prices increased on Tuesday due to an expected fall in US inventories. At 1415 GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, gained 0.31 percent to reach $75.39 a barrel. Similarly, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) reached $74.12, up 0.03 percent. The price for Opec Basket was recorded at $74.18 a barrel with 3.07 percent decrease, Arab Light was available at $75.70 a barrel with 0.38 percent increase, while the price of Russian Sokol reached $74.68 after gaining 0.44 percent. The US crude stocks are expected to decline for the eighth consecutive week, as they hit their lowest level since February 2020 in the week that ended on July 2. “In the bigger picture, Brent crude’s key longer-term levels remain [between] $73 and $78 a barrel while WTI’s are $71 and $77 a barrel,” said Jeffrey Halley, a senior market analyst for the Asia-Pacific region at Oanda. TLTP
Although US consumer price index data “will be of passing interest to oil markets this evening”, investors are really waiting on the outcome of the UAE’s request to review the baseline used to determine its quota, he said.
The UAE has insisted on updating the baselines to reflect production capacities reached in April 2020, rather than the levels of October 2018. The stalemate within the world’s main oil-exporting bloc has left traders uncertain about future supply. The group abandoned a meeting at the beginning of the month and postponed the planned gradual addition of 2 million barrels per day back to the market. This leaves the oil markets particularly tight as the producers have yet to indicate when they expect to reconvene.
