(London) Oil prices were hesitant on Thursday, torn between the decline in US inventories last week and Chinese economic data from earlier this week suggesting a slowdown in growth and continued subdued consumption.
At around 6 a.m. (Eastern time) (12 p.m. in Paris), the price of a barrel of North Sea Brent for delivery in September fell 0.08% to $85.01.
Its American equivalent, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in August, rose 0.06% to 82.90 dollars.
Prices were further driven by the sharp decline in US oil inventories last week.
These commercial reserves fell by 4.9 million barrels for the week ended July 12, according to figures from the American Energy Information Administration (EIA) published Wednesday, while analysts had expected a decline of around one million barrels, according to a consensus established by the Bloomberg agency.
However, “(Donald) Trump’s ambitions to increase US oil production could be a drag” on oil buyers, notes Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote.
According to many analysts, the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, the 78-year-old former president of the United States, has increased his chances of winning the presidential election in November.
“But Trump’s influence on oil is not so obvious,” Mr.me Ozkardeskaya: “Yes, Trump wants to pump more, but he also wants to suppress the shift to alternative energy sources and keep demand for fossil fuels intact,” she explains.
The market also remains attentive to China and its economic health, the country being the world’s largest oil importer.
A major meeting of the central committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the “Third Plenum”, was held this week in Beijing around President Xi Jinping. It focused on the economy, still slow since the pandemic.
Chinese leaders agreed on the need to “eliminate risks” in the economy and boost domestic consumption, state media reported.
But investors, who are expecting strong measures to support the Chinese economy, “are still digesting the fact that Chinese GDP has not been up to par,” MUFG analysts point out.
China saw its economic growth slow in the second quarter to 4.7% year-on-year, a pace well below analysts’ expectations, against a backdrop of a real estate crisis, sluggish consumption and economic uncertainty.