Crude oil futures traded higher on Thursday morning after Saudi Aramco announced an increase in prices for March delivery to buyers in Asia.

At 9.55 am on Thursday, April Brent oil futures were at $74.69, up by 0.11 per cent, and March crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $71.17, up by 0.20 per cent.

February crude oil futures were trading at ₹6243 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹6230, up by 0.21 per cent, and March futures were trading at ₹6233 against the previous close of ₹6227, up by 0.10 per cent.

Saudi Aramco, which is a major exporter of crude oil, announced on Wednesday that it would increase crude oil prices for buyers in Asia for March delivery. This follows an increase in the demand for the commodity from major consumers such as China and India. US sanctions on Russian oil has impacted the supply of the commodity to the global market.

Reports said that Saudi Aramco has increased the price by $2.40 a barrel of its Arab Light Crude to Asia for March. Market reports noted that this increase is the largest since August 2022.

Meanwhile, the latest data from US EIA (Energy Information Administration) showed a huge increase in crude oil inventories in the US for the week ending January 31.

According to EIA, US commercial crude oil inventories increased by 8.7 million barrels from the previous week. At 423.8 million barrels, US crude oil inventories were about 5 per cent below the five-year average for this time of year. Market was expecting it to increase by 2 million barrels for the week ending January 31. The industry body American Petroleum Institute (API) had forecasted crude oil inventories in the US to increase by 5.025 million barrels for the week ending January 31.

According to US EIA, total motor gasoline inventories increased by 2.2 million barrels from last week and were slightly above the five-year average for this time of year.

US EIA report said total products supplied in the US over the last four-week period averaged 20.6 million barrels a day, up by 3.3 per cent from the same period last year. Over the past four weeks, motor gasoline product supplied averaged 8.3 million barrels a day, down by 0.2 per cent from the same period last year.

US crude oil imports averaged 6.9 million barrels a day last week, an increase of 467,000 barrels a day from the previous week. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.6 million barrels a day, 2.8 per cent more than the same four-week period last year.

February natural gas futures were trading at ₹290.50 on MCX during the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹285.70, up by 1.68 per cent.

On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), April turmeric (farmer polished) contracts were trading at ₹13348 in the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹13296, up by 0.39 per cent.

April dhaniya futures were trading at ₹8248 on NCDEX in the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹8272, down by 0.29 per cent.

Published on February 6, 2025