Oil rose for a fifth straight week with the global energy crunch set to boost demand for crude as stockpiles decline from the US to China.
West Texas Intermediate for November delivery gained 0.93 percent to US$73.98 a barrel, up 2.79 percent from a week earlier.
Brent crude for November delivery rose 1.09 percent to US$78.09 a barrel, posting a weekly gain of 3.65 percent.
Photo: Reuters
Global onshore crude supplies sank by almost 21 million barrels last week, led by China, according to data analytics firm Kayrros, while US inventories are near a three-year low.
The surge in natural gas prices is expected to force some consumers to switch to oil, tightening the market further ahead of the northern hemisphere winter.
“The market is pricing in a prolonged impact of supply disruptions and the likely storage draws that will be needed to fulfill refinery demand,” Rystad Energy oil markets analyst Louise Dickson wrote in a note.
In terms of oil demand, “no new lockdowns in Europe, robust recovery in China road activity and the US nixing its ban on foreign travelers from November 2021, all lift prospects for upside in the coming quarters,” Dickson said.
Oil has steadily climbed this month after a period of COVID-19-induced demand uncertainty, with some of the world’s largest traders and banks predicting that prices might climb further amid the energy crisis.
Global crude consumption could rise by an additional 370,000 barrels a day if natural gas costs remain high, OPEC has said.
Various underlying oil market gauges are also pointing to an improving market.
The key spread between Brent futures for December and a year later is near US$7, the strongest since 2019. That is a sign traders are positive on the market outlook.
Money managers increased their bullish ICE Brent bets positions to the most in six months, indicating many believe there is yet more room for crude prices to climb.
At the same time, the premium options traders are paying for bearish put options is the smallest since January last year, another indication that traders are less concerned about a pullback in prices.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last