ISLAMABAD
\nCrude oil prices inched up on Monday to start the week on a positive note after going down in previous three weeks.
\nAs of 1210 hours GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world\u2019s oil, gained $0.23 (+0.28 percent) to reach $81.66 a barrel. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the main oil benchmark for North America, went up by $0.25 (+0.32 percent) to $77.42 a barrel.
\nSimilarly, the price of Russian Sokol increased by $0.27 (+0.36 percent) to $75.11. Arab Light prices witnessed an increase of $0.23 (+0.27 percent) to reach $84.97 a barrel. On the other hand, the price for Opec Basket decreased to $83.22 a barrel with a decrease of $1.05 (-1.25 percent). The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of Saharan Blend, Girassol, Djeno, Zafiro, Rabi Light, Iran Heavy, Basra Light, Kuwait Export, Es Sider, Bonny Light, Arab Light, Murban and Merey.
\nThe oil market fundamentals remain \u201cremarkably stable\u201d despite the uncertainty and potential for volatility, S&P Global Commodity Insights said. Growth in non-Opec+ supply, decelerating demand growth in China and sizable Opec spare capacity point to a well-supplied market in coming months, S&P Global said.
\n\u201cOil prices have remained below where they were in late September \u2013 a week before the Hamas attack,\u201d said Jim Burkhard, vice president and head of research for oil markets, energy and mobility at S&P Global Commodity Insights. \u201cStrong oil market fundamentals are prevailing over any fears at the moment.\u201d
\nSaudi Arabia\u2019s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Thursday that oil demand was healthy and that speculators were to blame for the recent drop in crude prices. \u201cIt\u2019s not weak,\u201d Prince Abdulaziz was quoted as saying by Bloomberg on the sidelines of an event in Riyadh. \u201cPeople are pretending it\u2019s weak. It\u2019s all a ploy.\u201d
\nThe minister said some oil market participants had been misunderstanding increases in oil exports in recent months from Opec and their correlation with those countries\u2019 production.
\nShipments are seasonal and should not be viewed as reflecting fluctuations in output, he said.
\nThe Opec+ group of oil producers is set to meet in Vienna on November 26 to set output targets for the first half of 2024. Saudi Arabia and Russia are expected to extend their voluntary production cuts of a combined 1.3 million bpd into the new year if the downward pressure on oil prices continues, according to MUFG.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Crude oil prices inched up on Monday to start the week on a positive note after going down in previous three weeks. As of 1210 hours GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world\u2019s oil, gained $0.23 (+0.28 percent) to reach $81.66 a barrel. The West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the main oil […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-367899","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n