Oil prices settled higher on Friday but fell on the week as investors weighed expectations for higher global supply against fresh stimulus from top crude importer China. Brent crude futures settled up 38 cents, or 0.53%, at $71.89 per barrel.
Front-month U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled up 51 cents, or 0.75%, at $68.18. On a weekly basis, Brent settled down around 3%, while WTI fell by around 5%. China’s central bank on Friday lowered interest rates and injected liquidity into the banking system, aiming to pull economic growth back toward this year’s target of roughly 5%.
More fiscal measures are expected to be announced before Chinese holidays starting on Oct. 1 after a meeting of the Communist Party’s top leaders showed an increased sense of urgency about mounting economic headwinds. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, together known as OPEC+, will go ahead with plans to increase production by 180,000 bpd each month starting from December, two OPEC+ sources said. A Financial Times report on Wednesday said the planned increase is due to Saudi Arabia’s decision to abandon a $100 oil price target and gain market share.
Asian spot LNG price flat amid tepid demand
Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices were flat last week amid tepid demand in northeast Asia, though hot weather in Japan weighed on inventories held by major utilities. The average LNG price for November delivery into north-east Asia was at $13.10 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), industry sources estimated.
Market sentiment has remained bearish last week, with comfortable inventory levels in China and overall limited prompt spot activities in Northeast Asia. Northeast Asian buyers like Taiwan’s CPC and South Korea’s Kogas had procured some cargoes for November and December delivery, analysts said. In Europe, underground gas storage is also at about 93% full, reducing the immediate need for LNG cargoes in the prompt market.
Europe benchmark gas prices were impacted last week by a colder weather forecast for the end of the month and October, and changes to Norwegian maintenance outages and supply. In the U.S., natural gas futures jumped about 5% to a 14-week high on Friday as Hurricane Helene battered the U.S. Southeast after causing Gulf of Mexico producers to cut output and knocking out power to millions of customers in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.
— By Al Attiyah Foundation