MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were stable to slightly higher in mid-morning trade in Asia Aug. 17 amid bargain-hunting by investors, with the upside limited by the rising number of COVID-19 cases globally sapping market sentiment, reported S&P Global.
At 11:20 am Singapore time (0320 GMT), the October ICE Brent futures contract was up 4 cents/b (0.06%) from the previous close at USD69.55/b, while the NYMEX September light sweet crude contract was 8 cents/b (0.12%) higher at USD67.37/b.
A resurgence in COVID-19 cases globally fueled by the delta variant has impacted the oil demand outlook in August, particularly in China, the world's largest energy consumer.
"China also reported weaker-than-expected industrials and retail sales on Monday, stoking fears about the global recovery, and oil demand," said Avtar Sandu, senior commodities manager at Phillips Futures, on Aug. 17.
Other analysts shared similar bearish views, noting that mobility in China has fallen sharply as authorities impose strict guidelines to curb rising COVID-19 infection rates.
China's refineries processed 13.96 million b/d of crude in July, down 6% from a record high of 14.86 million b/d in June, National Bureau of Statistics data released Aug 16 showed. The volume was also down 0.9% year on year, marking the first year-on-year fall since March 2020.
As MRC informed earlier, crude oil stockpiles fell modestly last week, while gasoline inventories dipped to their lowest level since November, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Crude inventories fell by 447,000 barrels in the week to Aug. 6 to 438.8 million barrels, compared with analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.3 million-barrel drop. Overall crude inventories have been on the decline for several weeks due to increased demand.
We remind that US crude oil production is expected to fall by 160,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2021 to 11.12 million bpd, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a monthly report, a smaller decline than its previous forecast for a drop of 210,000 bpd.
MRC