Oil hovers near $80 a barrel as concern grows over global supply
By Trend
Oil eased on Wednesday, having neared its highest level this year after a drop in U.S. crude inventories and the prospect of the loss of Iranian supply added to concerns over the delicate balance between consumption and production, Reuters reports.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 were last down 23 cents on the day at $78.83 a barrel by 0923 GMT, having touched a session peak of $79.66, the highest since late May, when the price broke above $80.
U.S. crude futures CLc1 were up 35 cents at $69.60 a barrel.
“We think oil market fundamentals are increasingly supportive of crude prices, at least at current levels,” said Gordon Gray, HSBC’s global head of oil and gas equity research.
“While we aren’t explicitly forecasting Brent to rise to $100 a barrel, we see real risks of this happening. The fact that much higher supply is already needed from the likes of Saudi Arabia - and the low levels of spare capacity remaining - leave the global system highly vulnerable to any further significant outage.”
U.S. crude stocks fell by 8.6 million barrels in the week to Sept. 7 to 395.9 million, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said on Tuesday, while the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) cut its forecast for U.S. crude output growth in 2019.
Outside the United States, traders have been focusing on the impact of U.S. sanctions against Iran that will target oil exports from November.
“Iran is increasingly becoming the preoccupation of the crude market. The last couple of weeks have seen the expected squeeze on Iranian crude flows taking shape, with overall outflows down markedly,” consultant JBC Energy said.
--
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz