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Crude oil traded higher on Thursday morning as the outcomes of the US Federal Reserve meeting and the virtual meeting of OPEC+ (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) and its allies were on the expected lines.
At 10 am on Thursday, April Brent oil futures were at $83.46, up by 0.75 per cent; and March crude oil futures on WTI were at $77.09, up by 0.89 per cent.
February crude oil futures were trading at ₹6,328 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) in the initial trading hour of Thursday against the previous close of ₹6,281, up by 0.75 per cent; and March futures were trading at ₹6,372 against the previous close of ₹6,331, up by 0.65 per cent.
Rise on check
In its meeting on Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve decided to increase the interest rate by 25 basis points. The market was expecting this hike. The aggressive rate increases by the Fed to control inflation in that country in the recent past had impacted the economy.
Meanwhile, the virtual meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee of OPEC+ on Wednesday reviewed the crude oil production data for the months of November and December 2022 and decided to maintain the current production policy. This decision was also on the expected lines by the market.
However, further increase in crude prices was limited by the recent crude oil inventory data in the US. According to the petroleum status data for the week ending January 27, which was released by the US Energy Information Administration on February 1, the US commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the strategic petroleum reserve) increased by 4.1 million barrels from the previous week. At 452.7 million barrels, US crude oil inventories were about 4 per cent above the five-year average for this time of year.
US crude oil imports averaged 7.3 million barrels a day last week, an increase of 1.4 million barrels a day from the previous week. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.6 million barrels a day, 1 per cent more than the same four-week period last year.
Jeera gains, steel slips
February natural gas futures were trading at ₹208.40 on MCX in the initial trading hour of Thursday morning against the previous close of ₹211.80, down by 1.61 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), March jeera contracts were trading at ₹32,335 in the initial trading hour of Thursday morning against the previous close of ₹32,215, up by 0.37 per cent.
February steel long futures were trading at ₹48,410 on NCDEX in the initial trading hour of Thursday morning against the previous close of ₹48,740, down by 0.68 per cent.
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