RIYADH: Oil prices inched up in early trade on Monday after falling around 8 percent last week to more than three-week lows as jitters over major economies outweighed signs of a demand recovery in China, the world’s top oil importer.
Brent crude futures crawled up 24 cents, or 0.30 percent, to $80.18 a barrel at 08.30 a.m. Saudi time, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 12 cents, also 0.16 percent higher, to $73.51 a barrel.
Last Friday, WTI and Brent slid 3 percent after strong US jobs data raised concerns that the Federal Reserve would keep raising interest rates, which in turn boosted the dollar.
Price caps hit Russia’s export revenue by about $8 billion in January: IEA
Price caps on Russian oil likely hit Moscow’s revenues from oil and gas exports by nearly 30 percent in January, or about $8 billion, from a year ago period, International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol said on Sunday
He said the growth in global oil demand this year will come from China and that may need the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, to look at their output policies.
“And now this year Chinese economy is rebounding...this is putting upward pressure on the demand,” he said referring to the ‘exploding’ demand for jet fuel in China.
Germany’s Scholz says Berlin is preparing wind power roadmap: Bild
Berlin is preparing a roadmap for speedy wind power plant constructions to achieve a planned roll-out of renewable energy to meet climate goals for 2030, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a newspaper interview on Sunday.
Germany aims to cut 65 percent of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 compared with 1990 and to become carbon-neutral by 2045.
“By 2030, there will be an average of four to five onshore wind turbines on land every day,” Scholz, a Social Democrat, told the Bild am Sonntag.
“Every month, there will be a discussion with the states on how far they have progressed. Anything that is not done on time must be made up for,” said the Chancellor.
The energy crisis, brought about by the war in Ukraine, has shown Germany’s resilience amid supply shocks, he said.
But beyond that capability, more innovation and modernization of Germany’s export-geared manufacturing industry was necessary.
Once the expansion of wind and solar power was progressing in full swing, Europe’s biggest economy would become less dependent on imports of fossil fuels such as gas, coal or crude oil, he said.
Berlin has approved measures to speed up the wind and solar power roll-out as well as that of offshore wind.
In total, Germany should have access to 360 megawatts of green electricity capacity by 2030.
(With input from Reuters)
