Crude oil prices, despite a dip yesterday due to weak economic data from the United States, are poised to end the week with a gain, marking a full month of upward momentum.
Brent crude has increased by approximately 9% over the past four weeks, reaching its highest level since April. Similarly, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) has risen by $10 per barrel over the same period.
“Market sentiment has been buoyed this week by strong mobility indicators and escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East,” noted ANZ analysts in a statement earlier today.
“There are promising signs of a gradual increase in summer travel, boosting oil demand in the U.S.,” said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova, to Bloomberg. She also mentioned that “tensions show little signs of de-escalating” in the Middle East, maintaining the war premium on oil.
Earlier this week, prices were also influenced by a temporary hurricane season premium when Hurricane Beryl surged through the Caribbean. Although the storm has since weakened, reducing the premium, Bloomberg reported that the fear of an unusually active hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico might continue to support prices in the upcoming weeks.
Additional support for oil prices came from the latest U.S. jobless data, which suggested that the Federal Reserve might expedite its decision to cut interest rates after both first-time jobless claims and total unemployment numbers rose last week.
Moreover, bullish news emerged from Russia, with reports indicating that major oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft plan to significantly reduce crude exports this month following the end of refinery maintenance season. According to Reuters, two unnamed sources revealed that the combined loadings of the two companies at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk in July are set to be 220,000 barrels per day lower than in June.
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Brent Oil Price Maintains Positive Momentum
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