West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures in New York ended slightly higher on Tuesday (April 4) following China and the United States released weak economic data. This made investors worried that the slowing economy might affect oil demand. and also overshadowed the positive factor from the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies or OPEC Plus Announced to reduce oil production by more than 1 million barrels per day until the end of 2023.

• The WTI crude oil contract is delivered in May. They were up 29 cents, or 0.4%, at $80.71 a barrel.
• The Brent crude oil contract (BRENT) is delivered in June. rose 1 cent to $84.94/barrel

Investors are worried regarding the recession. After the US Department of Labor released the results of the survey of job openings and labor turnover rates (JOLTS) for the month of February. Job openings, a gauge of labor demand, fell 632,000 to a seasonally adjusted 9.9 million in February. which is the lowest level since May 2021 and below 10 million jobs for the first time since 2021, and below analysts’ expectations of 10.4 million jobs.

While the results of the survey of Caixin / S&P. Global states that China’s March manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was 50, down from 51.6 in February as global demand weakened.

Weak US and Chinese economic data overshadowed positive news from OPEC Plus announcing a cut in oil production by 1.16 million barrels per day through the end of 2023. Brent to $100/barrel by the end of the year.

Investors are keeping an eye on the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) crude inventories release today, while analysts in a S&P Global Commodity Insights poll expect a decline in US crude stockpiles. 7.5 million barrels, gasoline stocks fell 1.3 million barrels and distillate stocks fell 140,000 barrels.

By InfoQuest News Agency (05 Apr. ’23)

Tags: WTI oil, crude oil, oil price