Concerns related to tight supplies in the global market, in spite of slowdown in some economies, boosted crude oil futures marginally higher on Friday morning.

At 10.02 am on Friday, September Brent oil futures were at $107.02, up by 0.37 per cent, while September crude oil futures on WTI were at $96.66, up by 0.25 per cent.

August crude oil futures were trading at ₹7686 (down by 0.39 per cent) on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) in the initial hour of Friday morning against the previous close of ₹7716, while the September futures were trading at ₹7566 (down by 0.32 per cent) against the previous close of ₹7590.

Demand supply gap

The Shell CEO (Chief Executive Officer), Ben van Beurden, who spoke to Bloomberg TV on Thursday, said there is more upside than downside for oil prices. The demand has not fully recovered yet and supply is definitely tight, Beurden said.

The CEO of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanne, was of the opinion that oil production could not keep up with recovering demand.

OPEC+ meeting

Meanwhile, OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) and its allies, known as OPEC+, will meet next week. In this meeting, the US is hopeful of a positive announcement on additional supplies from the oil majors.

Market reports, however, noted that OPEC+ may find it difficult to increase the supplies as no oil producing nation is in a position to increase production quota due to lack of investments in oil fields.

Meanwhile, the US economy shrank for a second straight quarter triggering fears of recession amid high inflation and interest rates.

On MCX, August natural gas futures were trading at ₹646.40 or down by 1.15 per cent against the previous close of ₹653.90 in the initial hour of Friday morning.

NCDEX

On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), August dhaniya futures were trading at ₹11,894 (up by 0.97 per cent) in the initial hour of Friday morning against the previous close of ₹11780.

On the other hand, August cottonseed oilcake contracts were trading at ₹2675 (down by 1.15 per cent) against the previous close of ₹2,706.

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