LONDON: Oil extended its run of gains on Wednesday, climbing toward $75 a barrel to its highest since April 2019, supported by a recovery in demand from the pandemic and a drop in US crude inventories.
The American Petroleum Institute reported US crude inventories fell 8.5 million barrels, two market sources said, more than analysts forecast. Official Energy Information Administration figures are out at 1430 GMT.
Brent crude was up 29 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $74.28 a barrel by 0815 GMT, and earlier reached $74.73, the highest since April 2019. US crude gained 32 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $72.44 and hit $72.83, the highest since October 2018.
“Demand growth is outpacing supply and will continue to do so over the coming months,” said Stephen Brennock of oil broker PVM.
Brent has risen 44 percent this year, supported by supply cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, and a demand recovery expected to gather pace in the second half.
Despite some easing of last year’s record output cuts made when the pandemic took hold, OPEC+ is still withholding millions of barrels of daily supply from the market.
“Even non-energy traders are placing bets that oil prices will continue to rise,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at brokerage OANDA.
Executives from major oil traders said on Tuesday they expected prices to remain above $70 and demand to return to pre-pandemic levels in the second half of 2022.
At the same time, the prospect of an imminent rise in Iranian oil exports looks less likely, analysts said. Indirect talks between Tehran and Washington on resuming the 2015 nuclear accord resumed in Vienna on Saturday.
“Ongoing efforts to revive the Iranian nuclear deal have so far failed to bear any fruits,” PVM’s Brennock said.
Oil hits new high near $75 on demand rise, falling inventories
https://arab.news/cwfa6
Oil hits new high near $75 on demand rise, falling inventories
- The American Petroleum Institute reported US crude inventories fell 8.5 million barrels
Saudi minister at Davos urges collaboration on minerals
- The reason of the tension of geopolitics is actually the criticality of the minerals
LONDON: Countries need to collaborate on mining and resources to help avoid geopolitical tensions, Saudi Arabia’s minister of industry and mineral resources told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday.
“The reason of the tension of geopolitics is actually the criticality of the minerals, the concentration in different areas of the world,” Bandar Alkhorayef told a panel discussion on the geopolitics of materials.
“The rational thing to do is to collaborate, and that’s what we are doing,” he added. “We are creating a platform of collaboration in Saudi Arabia.”
The Kingdom last week hosted the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh. Alkhorayef said the platform was launched by the government in 2022 as a contribution to the global community. “It’s very important to have a global movement, and that’s why we launched the Future Minerals Forum,” he said. “It is the most important platform of global mining leaders.”
The Kingdom has made mining one of the key pillars of its economy, rapidly expanding the sector under the Vision 2030 reform program with an eye on diversification. Saudi Arabia has an estimated $2.5 trillion in mineral wealth and the ramping up of extraction comes at a time of intense global competition for resources to drive technological development in areas like AI and renewables.
“We realized that unlocking the value that we have in our natural resources, of the different minerals that we have, will definitely help our economy to grow to diversify,” Alkhorayef said. The Kingdom has worked to reduce the timelines required to set up mines while also protecting local communities, he added. Obtaining mining permits in Saudi Arabia has been reduced to just 30 to 90 days compared to the many years required in other countries, Alkhorayef said.
“We learned very, very early that permitting is a bottleneck in the system,” he added. “We all know, and we have to be very, very frank about this, that mining doesn’t have a good reputation globally.
“We are trying to change this and cutting down the licensing process doesn’t only solve it. You need also to show the communities the impact of the mining on their lives.”
Saudi Arabia’s new mining investment laws have placed great emphasis on the development of society and local communities, along with protecting the environment and incorporating new technologies, Alkhorayef said. “We want to build the future mines; we don’t want to build old mines.”
