(New York) Oil prices recorded another session of gains on Friday, still driven by insufficient supply, while indicators gave good news about demand in China and the United States.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in November rose to $93.93, up 0.24%. Earlier, it came close to the symbolic threshold of $95, at $94.63.
As for the price of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI), expiring in October, it gained 0.67%, to $90.77.
Since the end of August, WTI has experienced 13 positive sessions over 16 trading days, and its price has increased by 15%.
For Edward Moya, from Oanda, black gold continued to rise on Friday thanks to American and Chinese indicators.
In China, industrial production and retail sales came out well above economists’ expectations in August.
After falling, in July, to the lowest since the end of the zero COVID-19 policy, retail sales rebounded, demonstrating a restart in consumption.
In the United States, the American central bank (Fed) indicated that industrial production increased by 0.4% in August over one month, more than the 0.1% expected by economists.
Furthermore, manufacturing activity in the New York region recovered significantly in September, to 1.9 points compared to -19 points in August, while economists predicted a further contraction (-10 points).
“The symbolic threshold of 100 dollars is being considered again” for Brent, commented Sophie Lund-Yates, of Hargreaves Lansdown, under the effect of recent forecasts from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which expects on a shortfall in supply compared to demand at 3.3 million barrels per day.
“We remain skeptical” about this scenario, “because concerns about demand and the economic situation will prevent prices from going too high,” Commerzbank analysts argued in a note.
“We can’t go much further,” agrees Mark Wagoner of Excel Futures. “Demand will slow down in the United States, because refineries will begin their maintenance operations”, traditional at this time after the summer season.
“The oil market will remain tense for a while, but we will undoubtedly need a new catalyst for us to see Brent in the triple digits,” said Edward Moya.