Oil is up on tighter supplies largely due to Opec supply cuts
Opec and its allies have been supporting oil prices all year, but a ramped up US-China trade war could dent oil demand
London — Oil prices rose on Tuesday, supported by tighter global supplies that helped offset lingering worries that demand could be hurt by a US-Chinese trade row. Brent crude rose 19c or 0.3% to $70.30 a barrel by 9.30am GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 50c or 0.9% to $59.13 a barrel. US crude futures were trading for the first time since Friday due to a long holiday weekend. Oil prices have been broadly supported by supply cuts by oil cartel Opec and its allies since the start of the year and helped by political tensions in the Middle East. “Brent is likely to resume its upward trend in line with its fundamentals, which are tight,” said Harry Tchilinguirian, global oil strategist at BNP Paribas in London. “This tightness is reflected in the generic front-month Brent futures time-spread. Backwardation is very steep at $1.33 a barrel — the last time we sustained such deep backwardation was in 2013, when spot Brent was trading above $100 a barrel.” Backwardation, a ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.