Oil prices rise on hopes of a US stimulus

London — Crude oil prices rose on Tuesday, underpinned by expectations of a US stimulus to help jump-start the world’s biggest oil consumer, a rebound in Asian demand as economies reopen and a stronger stock market.

Brent crude added 29 US cents, or 0.6%, to $45.28 a barrel, by 8.19am GMT. West Texas Intermediate US crude rose 38c, or 0.9%, to $42.32 a barrel.

US President Donald Trump tweeted that top congressional Democrats wanted to meet him on coronavirus-related economic relief. The talks between Democrats and the Trump administration broke down last week.

“A deal on the support package is not a foregone conclusion but if it a mutually acceptable accord is struck stocks and oil will get a short-term boost,” Tamas Varga of oil brokerage PVM said.

Signs of recovering Asian oil demand also boosted prices.

On Sunday, Aramco CEO Amin Nasser said he saw oil demand rebounding in Asia as economies gradually opened.

China’s factory deflation eased in July, driven by a rise in global oil prices and as industrial activity climbed back towards pre-coronavirus levels, adding to signs of recovery in the world’s second-largest economy.

Prices also found support from a rally in European stocks, which rose for a third straight session on Tuesday as carmakers gained on firm China sales data.

US passenger airline traffic, which was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, was down 80% in June from a year earlier, official figures showed, but still nearly twice the levels of May.

Energy companies have begun taking back millions of barrels of oil from the US government’s emergency stockpile after renting storage in the facility to help manage a glut of crude this spring after energy demand collapsed during Covid-19 lockdowns, a department of energy website showed on Monday.

Reuters

Source: businesslive.co.za