Brent and WTI increasing after US launches missile strike in Syria

Corresponding to global cues, the price of the Indian basket of crude oil has risen to $53.05/bbl on April 6 from $51.28/bbl on March 31. Gold prices shot up more than 1% to their highest level in almost five months, while the yen strengthened as much as 0.7% against the dollar.

The inventory surplus is likely to be eroded, even without a prolonged supply cut, analysts at JBC Energy said. OPEC ministers will gather in Vienna on May 25 to decide whether to extend the accord.

According to data by the U.S. Census Bureau crunched by Bloomberg, U.S. crude sales in China jumped nearly fourfold in February compared to January, to 8.08 million barrels, versus the 6.84 million barrels of oil that Canada imported from the U.S., which was a 20-percent monthly drop. Investors are now wondering what will be U.S. President Donald Trump’s next move or was the strike the only move.

USA crude gained as much as 1.7 percent in NY, wiping out an earlier decline of 0.2 percent. “There’s been a flight to quality in other markets; the dollar’s up and so is gold”. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were last up 54 cents to $52.24 a barrel, having reached an intraday high of $52.94.

Oil Prices rise after news that the United States launched Tomahawk misslies at Syria Thursday night.

DeHaan said he doesn’t expect prices at the pump to top $3 a gallon “unless something major happens”.

Refinery crude runs rose 203,000 barrels per day and utilization rates climbed 1.5 percentage points to 90.8 percent of total capacity, EIA data showed, as plants restart from spring turnarounds.

Benchmark US West Texas Intermediate crude futures jumped almost two per cent, or US93 cents, to $US52.63 a barrel – their highest level in a month.

USA crude, which suffered a sharp drop in early March, hit its highest level in a month on Friday. Prices are up about 4.6 percent this week. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.77 to WTI for June.

The U.S. rig count drilling for new oil rose for an 11th straight week last week to 662, making the first quarter the strongest for rig additions since mid-2011, according to energy services firm Baker Hughes said. “The speculators are hanging their hat on the May 25 meeting”.

Elsewhere, production from Libya is expected to recover in the coming weeks after some of its output was sidelined by conflict. The war torn country provides almost none of the world’s oil – or more precisely about 0.05% based on its estimated 2016 output of about 35,000 barrels per day.