Oil futures fell on Tuesday by more than 3%
Oil prices held firm today, Thursday, after a larger-than-expected decline in US crude inventories and hopes for Chinese demand contrasted with fears that a further large and rapid rise in US interest rates could slow economic growth and undermine oil consumption.
By 05:29 GMT, Brent crude futures rose 4 cents to $82.70 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 1 cent to $76.67 a barrel.
On Tuesday, oil futures fell by more than 3% and incurred their largest daily loss since early January, after the statements of Federal Reserve Chairman (US Central Bank) Jerome Powell, in which he stated that the central bank will likely need to raise interest more than expected after Strong data recently.
Although China’s crude imports fell 1.3% in the first two months of 2023 on an annual basis, analysts pointed to the increase in imports in February as an indication of the recovery in fuel demand after China lifted anti-Covid-19 restrictions.
At the same time, data from the US Energy Information Administration revealed, yesterday, Wednesday, that US crude stocks fell by 1.7 million barrels last week, contrary to analysts’ expectations for an increase of 395 thousand barrels and ending a continuous wave of increase that lasted ten weeks.