BEIJING, December 7 2023: Oil prices recouped some of their losses in early Asian trading but remained at the lowest levels since June, after falling in the previous session on high U.S. crude output and gasoline inventories.
Brent crude futures rose 32 cents, or 0.43%, to $74.62 a barrel by 0116 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 33 cents, or 0.48%, to $69.71 a barrel.
“Oil markets may have been oversold,” which could mean the recovery is a “short-term rebound,” said Tina Ting, a markets analyst with CMC Markets, in a note.
In the previous session, the market was “spooked” by data showing U.S. output remains near record highs even though inventories fell, analysts at ANZ said in a note.
Some of the bearishness was also a result of higher product fuel inventories, the ANZ analysts said.
Gasoline stocks (USOILG=ECI) rose by 5.4 million barrels in the week to 223.6 million barrels, the EIA said on Wednesday, far exceeding expectations for a 1 million-barrel build.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met to discuss further oil price cooperation on Wednesday as members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, a group known as OPEC+, which may strengthen the market’s confidence in the impact of output cuts.
Prices fell by 2% last week, despite an announcement of voluntary output cuts by OPEC+, amid concerns over whether the production reductions would be fully implemented.
Concerns about China’s economy also contributed to Wednesday’s fall in prices, and the market will be watching for the release of China’s trade data later on Thursday.
China’s export data for October were worse than expected, having fallen on a year-on-year basis every month since May.
