SINGAPORE September 25 2023 : Oil prices were on the rise on Monday, as investors worried about a tighter supply after Moscow banned fuel exports. Brent crude futures were up 48 cents at $93.75 per barrel at 0110 GMT, after dropping 3 cents on Friday. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were also higher, rising 50 cents to $90.53 per barrel.
Prices had been on the rise for the past three weeks, after the Federal Reserve’s decision to raise interest rates sent global financial markets into a tizzy and raised worries about demand.
Russia has temporarily blocked gasoline and diesel from being exported to most countries, causing worries about a shortage of products, especially heating oil, as the winter season approaches. The number of oil rigs in the US dropped to its lowest level since February 2022 last week, even though prices are higher. Investors are hoping for better economic data from China, which is the world’s biggest oil importer, but analysts say oil prices are likely to face some technical resistance at the levels they reached last week.
Goldman Sachs analysts think the manufacturing sector in China will start to expand again in September, and they predict a purchasing manufacturing index of 50 or higher, which would be the first time it’s been above 50 since March. On the plus side, Chinese oil demand rose slightly last week, thanks to a gradual increase in demand for jet fuel for international flights.
