By Price action
- West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery rose 34 cents, or 0.5%, to $74.49 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
- September Brent crude, the global benchmark, was up 32 cents, or 0.4%, at $78.82 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
- On Nymex, August gasoline rose 0.8% to $2.654 a gallon, while August heating oil gained 0.8% to $2.584 a gallon.
- August natural gas rose 2.7% to $2.579 per million British thermal units.
Market drivers
Crude prices are stabilizing after a Monday pullback that was attributed to weak data on Chinese economic growth and the restart of production at Libyan oil fields following protests.
Although crude prices have experienced significant declines so far this year, they have rebounded in July. This upswing is partly driven by expectations of a tighter market in the second half of the year, supported by supply cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Denys Peleshok, head of Asia at CPT Markets, highlighted that supply concerns could continue to boost market trends in the medium term as traders remain cautious about potential interventions from OPEC+. However, demand concerns may also impact the market and introduce uncertainty and price corrections. Peleshok noted that Chinese economic data has been weaker than expected, which has contributed to market reactions.
Maintaining vigilance over supply and demand dynamics will be crucial for traders navigating the oil market in the coming months.
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