At 9:56 am on Friday, February Brent oil futures were at $73.48, up by 0.10 per cent, and January crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $70.09, up by 0.10 per cent.
December crude oil futures were trading at ₹5,952 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hour of trading on Friday against the previous close of ₹5,978, down by 0.43 per cent, and January futures were trading at ₹5,948 against the previous close of ₹5,968, down by 0.34 per cent.
IEA’s Global Oil Market report for December said that global oil supply rose by 130,000 barrels a day month-on-month to 103.4 million barrels a day in November, on a continued recovery in Libyan and Kazakhstan output.
“Total oil supply is on track to increase by 630,000 barrels a day this year and 1.9 million barrels a day in 2025, to 104.8 million barrels a day, even in the absence of unwinding of OPEC+ cuts. Non-OPEC+ supply rises by about 1.5 million barrels a day in both years, led by the United States, Brazil, Guyana, Canada and Argentina,” it said.
The report said that world oil demand growth is set to accelerate from 840,000 barrels a day in 2024 to 1.1 million barrels a day next year, lifting consumption to 103.9 million barrels a day in 2025. Increases in both years will be dominated by petrochemical feedstocks, while demand for transport fuels will continue to be constrained by behavioural and technological progress. While non-OECD demand growth, notably in China, has slowed markedly, emerging Asia will continue to lead gains in 2024 and 2025, the report said.
Meanwhile, the outcome of China’s Central Economic Work Conference (CEWC) boosted sentiment regarding demand growth there. This agenda setting meeting of top leaders from China was conducted on December 11 and 12.
The meeting decided to increase the budget deficit, issue more debt and loosen monetary policy to maintain a stable economic growth rate.
Market players opine that these measures could stimulate industrial activities, consumer spending and infrastructure development in China. This, in turn, can lead to increase in demand for commodities such as crude oil. China is one of the major consumers of crude oil in the global market.
December natural gas futures were trading at ₹295.20 on MCX during the initial hour of trading on Friday against the previous close of ₹299.60, down by 1.47 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), December guarseed contracts were trading at ₹5135 in the initial hour of trading on Friday against the previous close of ₹5118, up by 0.33 per cent.
December castorseed futures were trading at ₹6,290 on NCDEX in the initial hour of trading on Friday against the previous close of ₹6,295, down by 0.08 per cent.
