Azernews.Az

By Sara Israfilbayova

World oil prices are rising on July 28 as investors are waiting for the publication of statistics from the U.S. on oil reserves for the week.

Brent crude futures up 0.33 percent, at $51.66 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $49.08 per barrel, up 0.08 percent, according to Reuters.

"Positive signs came from the draw in gasoline stocks this week, as the U.S. moves into the peak driving season," said Ashley Kelty, oil analyst at Cenkos Securities.

Traders expect the release of statistics on drilling rigs in the U.S. from BHGE. As a result of the previous working week, the number of drilling rigs in the U.S. fell by 2, or 0.21 percent, to 950 units. In annual terms, the number of drilling rigs increased by 488 pieces, or by 2.06 times.

At the same time, the market remains optimistic after the publication of data on stocks in the U.S. on July 26. The U.S. Department of Energy reported that commercial oil reserves in the country for the week ended July 21 fell by 7.2 million barrels, or 1.5 percent - to 483.4 million barrels.

OPEC and non-OPEC producers reached an agreement in December 2016 to curtail oil output jointly and ease a global glut after more than two years of low prices. OPEC agreed to slash the output by 1.2 million barrels per day from January 1.

Non-OPEC oil producers such as Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, Sudan, and South Sudan agreed to reduce output by 558,000 barrels per day starting from January 1, 2017.

The parties decided to extend the production adjustments for a further period of nine months, in May 2017.

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