By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices recorded gains on Thursday on the heels of the US-China trade war, which has continued to influence prospects for the global economy and global oil demand.
Also, the continued Turkish offensive in Syria as a result of the pulling out of United States troops from the crisis-ridden country has raised tensions in the Middle-East.
Business Post reports that for the second day running, Turkey’s military has continued with its operation in northern Syria to clear US-backed Kurdish forces away from its border.
As at the time of filing this report on Thursday night, the international benchmark Brent crude was trading at $59.29 per barrel, recording an increase of 97 cents or 1.66 percent, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was trading at $53.69 after going up by 2.09 percent or $1.10.
US President Donald Trump said tariffs on Chinese imports will increase on October 15 if no progress is made in this week’s bilateral trade negotiations scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
Also, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reduced its forecast for oil demand growth for the third month in a row on Thursday as a result of weaker data in the Asia Pacific and some countries in the Americas.
Analysts have viewed the move as a measure that will add to growing pressure on the Middle East-dominated cartel to impose a deeper round of production cuts at its December meeting.
OPEC had also cut its forecast by 40,000 barrels per day from its September estimate for global oil demand growth for the remainder of 2019 to 0.98 million barrels per day.
Projections show that the world oil demand is expected to grow by 1.08 million barrels per day in 2020.
For Nigeria, which relies heavily on the sale of crude oil at the global market as its main source of income, it would welcome a steady rise in the price of the commodity to support its budget estimates and revenue generation.
Dipo Olowookere