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Crude oil prices continued to drop over demand-supply issues in the global market on Thursday morning.
At 10.04 am on Thursday, November Brent oil futures were at $93.92, down by 0.19 per cent, and October crude oil futures on WTI were at $88.44, down by 0.05 per cent.
September crude oil futures were trading at ₹7,039 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) in the initial trading hour of Thursday against the previous close of ₹7,114, down by 1.05 per cent, and October futures were trading at ₹7,024 against the previous close of ₹7,095, down by 1 per cent.
Oil market report for August by International Energy Agency (IEA) said soaring oil use for power generation and gas-to-oil switching are boosting demand. World oil demand is now forecast at 99.7 million barrels a day in 2022 and 101.8 million barrels a day in 2023, it said.
Reserves rise
The petroleum status report by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) for the week ending September 9, which was released on September 14, said US commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the strategic petroleum reserve) increased by 2.4 million barrels from the previous week. At 429.6 million barrels, US crude oil inventories are about 2 per cent below the five-year average for this time of year.
US crude oil imports averaged 5.8 million barrels a day last week, a decrease of 988,000 barrels a day from the previous week. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.2 million barrels a day, which is 2.6 per cent more compared to a year ago.
Total products supplied in the US over the last four-week period averaged 19.7 million barrels a day, down by 7 per cent from the same period last year.
Meanwhile, railway union workers in the US are in talks with stakeholders for better working conditions. Any failure in the talks could lead to a disruption in rail shipments of crude oil and petroleum products. Railway network is crucial for transportation of crude and products in the US.
Reports also indicated the likely withdrawal of Covid-induced lockdown in the Chengdu region of China from Thursday. This could help boost demand for crude oil as China is a major consumer.
Guar gum, turmeric gain
September zinc futures were trading at ₹290.40 on MCX in the initial trading hour of Thursday against the previous close of ₹286.95, up by 1.20 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), September guar gum contracts were trading at ₹9,955 in the initial trading hour of Thursday against the previous close of ₹9,757, up by 2.03 per cent.
October turmeric (farmer polished) futures were trading at ₹7,302 on NCDEX in the initial trading hour of Thursday against the previous close of ₹7,196, up by 1.47 per cent.
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