WTI crude stopped its four-day declining streak and rose 0,5% to $94.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:50 am London time. Prices were under pressure following a statement by the U.A.E. Energy Minister that the global demand will stay relatively weak.
Futures rebounded amid expectations that U.S. economic data scheduled for today will show improvement. According to forecasts, U.S. Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) should rise to 71.1, the highest since November, up from 68,1 for the preceding month.
Guy Wolf, global head of market analytics at Marex Spectron Group in London, said for Bloomberg: “The U.S. recovery is advancing, rather than accelerating. On a relative basis, the U.S. remains the best growth spot of the major economies, but on an absolute basis things are not great.”
Brent oil reached $104 a barrel today, supported by stronger equity markets and Middle East tension, but pressured by weaker economic growth and lower oil demand concerns. Violence in Syria, which threatens to spread to neighboring countries, is supporting oil prices as Middle East countries account for a fifth of the worlds seaborne crude oil supplies. Great Britain and France are likely to start supplying Syrian rebels with weapons after the attempts to renew the European arms embargo on Syria failed.
Olivier Jakob, energy analyst at consultancy Petromatrix in Zug, Switzerland said: “The European Union decision to lift the embargo on arms sales to Syrian rebels is bringing some additional geopolitical risk premium to the oil markets.”
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