By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices rose on Wednesday, April 20 after the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA) said the US crude stockpiles recorded a draw of 8 million barrels last week compared with a crude inventory increase of 9.4 million barrels reported a week earlier.
At the oil market yesterday, the Brent crude futures gained $1.25 or 1.17 per cent to trade at $108.05 per barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures appreciated by 19 cents or 0.19 per cent to sell at $102.75 per barrel.
Business Post reports that on Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute(API) estimated a crude oil inventory draw of close to 4.5 million barrels., 15 per cent below the five-year average for this time of the year.
Prices also got a boost yesterday as a result of the force majeure on Libyan export terminals and the shutdown of two major fields including Sharara, the country’s largest.
Further oil supply disruptions also added to the bullishness as news emerged that Russian oil shipments abroad had fallen by 25 per cent over the past seven days.
Meanwhile, upward pressure on prices came from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which on Tuesday revised downward its growth forecast for the global economy for this year, saying it will likely be one percentage point lower than previously forecast.
On the demand side of the market, continuing coronavirus lockdowns in China also have hurt demand in the world’s top crude importer and this is weighing on prices.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known collectively as OPEC+, produced 1.45 million barrels per day below its production target in March as Russian output began to decline after sanctions imposed by the West.
The European Commission is working to speed up the availability of alternative energy supplies to try to cut the cost of banning Russian oil and persuade Germany and other reluctant EU nations to accept the measure.
Modupe Gbadeyanka