SINGAPORE: Oil edged up on Thursday amid ongoing OPEC-led supply cuts and US sanctions against exporters Venezuela and Iran, but price gains were capped by record US crude output and rising commercial fuel inventories.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $56.31 per barrel at 0637 GMT, up 9 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last settlement.
Brent crude futures were at $66.22 per barrel, up 23 cents, or 0.4 percent.
Prices are being supported by efforts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other countries — a grouping known as ‘OPEC+’ — to withhold around 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil, a strategy aimed at tightening markets.
“In our view, OPEC’s strategy is to rebalance the market as quickly as possible and exit the cuts by the end of June in order to grow production alongside shale producers in the second half of this year,” US investment bank Goldman Sachs said in a note on Wednesday.
US sanctions against the oil industries of OPEC members Iran and Venezuela have also had an impact, traders said.
Venezuela’s state-run oil firm PDVSA this week declared a maritime emergency, citing trouble accessing tankers and personnel to export its oil amid the sanctions.
Despite these factors, oil remains in plentiful supply thanks to surging US production.
US crude oil stockpiles rose much more than expected last week, with inventories up by 7.1 million barrels to 452.93 million barrels, according to a weekly report by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday.
“There was a surprisingly large stockbuild, which was bearish,” French bank Societe Generale said in a note following the EIA report.
Meanwhile US crude oil production remained at a record 12.1 million bpd, an increase of more than 2 million bpd since early 2018.
That, along with the easing of a transportation bottleneck for low-cost US Permian Basin shale oil, could lead to higher production, Goldman Sachs said.
“The balance between rising US production and the OPEC+ efforts to stabilize prices with a production cut was broken by higher than expected US inventories and the OECD warning of lower global growth impacting energy demand going forward,” said Alfonso Esparza, senior analyst at futures brokerage OANDA.
The Organization for Economic Co-Operation & Development (OECD) said on Wednesday the world economy would grow 3.3 percent in 2019, down 0.2 percentage points from the OECD’s last set of forecasts in November.
Oil nudges higher on Venezuela and Iran sanctions, OPEC cuts
Oil nudges higher on Venezuela and Iran sanctions, OPEC cuts
- Prices are being supported by efforts led by the OPEC and other countries to withhold around 1.2 million barrels per day
- US sanctions against the oil industries of OPEC members Iran and Venezuela have also had an impact
Closing Bell: Saudi main index extends gains as market opens wider to foreign investment
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index rose on Monday, gaining 153.61 points, or 1.38 percent, to close at 11,321.09.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR5.85 billion ($1.56 billion), as 207 of the listed stocks advanced, while 55 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index increased, up 21.20 points or 1.41 percent, to close at 1,524.18.
The Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu gained 278.13 points, or 1.17 percent, to close at 24,013.03. This comes as 43 of the listed stocks advanced, while 29 retreated.
The best-performing stock was Saudi Pharmaceutical Industries and Medical Appliances Corp., with its share price surging by 7.26 percent to SR28.94.
Other top performers included Rasan Information Technology Co., which saw its share price rise by 6.51 percent to SR144, and Knowledge Economic City, which saw a 6.25 percent increase to SR13.09.
On the downside, the worst performer of the day was Najran Cement Co., whose share price fell by 2.11 percent to SR6.49.
Almasane Alkobra Mining Co. and Saudi Cable Co. also saw declines, with their shares dropping by 2 percent and 1.88 percent to SR103.10 and SR166.80, respectively.
On the announcement front, Riyad Bank has announced its annual financial results for 2025, with the total income from special commission of financing reaching SR24.1 billion, while net income from special commission of financing amounted to SR12 billion.
In a statement on Tadawul, the bank said: “Net income increased by 11.7 percent mainly due to an increase in total operating income and a decrease in total operating expenses.”
The bank further noted that the rise in total operating income was primarily driven by increased revenue from fees and commissions, trading activities, special commissions, gains on non-trading investments, and other operating sources. This growth was partially tempered by declines in exchange and dividend income.
“Net provision of expected credit losses and other losses decreased by 15.8 percent due to a decrease in impairment charge of credit losses and impairment charge for other financial assets, partially offset by an increase in impairment charge for investments,” it added.
RIBL’s share price closed at SR18.18 on the main market, marking a 1.43 percent increase.
