Crude oil futures rose, Thursday, to shake off previous losses against the backdrop of weak global demand expectations for 2024, as West Texas Intermediate crude for the March contract gained $1.39, or 1.81%, bringing the settlement price to settle at $78.03 per barrel, and the April contract for Brent crude was settled at $82.86 per barrel, up $1.26, or 1.54%.
In this regard, Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group, said that oil prices are finding support from the weakness of the dollar after US retail sales fell more than expected in January.
Futures fell about 1% earlier in the trading session after the Paris-based International Energy Agency expected demand to grow by 1.2 million barrels per day this year, down about 50% from growth of 2.3 million barrels per day in 2023.
But oil prices rose after the dollar fell and recovered their losses at the beginning of trading on Thursday, although the gains were limited after the International Energy Agency expected a slowdown in growth in demand this year and after data showed that US crude inventories increased more than expected.
The International Energy Agency said in its monthly oil market report on Thursday that global demand is losing momentum. The agency reduced its demand growth expectations in 2024 to 1.22 million barrels per day from 1.24 million barrels. On the supply side, the Energy Agency expected supply to grow by 1.7 million barrels per day this year, compared to previous expectations of 1.5 million barrels per day.
The Energy Information Administration said that US crude inventories jumped by 12 million barrels to 439.5 million barrels in the week ending February 9, far exceeding analysts’ expectations in a Reuters poll of an increase of 2.6 million barrels.
Official data showed that Britain entered a state of recession in the second half of 2023 after a contraction in GDP of 0.3% in the last quarter of the year, in addition to a contraction of 0.1% in the third quarter. Japan also entered a state of recession at the end of last year, contrary to expectations, abandoning... Its ranking as the third largest economy in the world is in favor of Germany.
