Brent crude prices declined by 1.8% to $81.18
per barrel this week, hitting a low of $80.63 per barrel, the lowest level
since June 10. The decline halted at the support range of $80.00-82.00 per
barrel. Investors are now waiting for further clues to direct prices, which may
either fall towards the next support at $70.00-72.00 per barrel or recover to
$88.00-90.00 per barrel. Both scenarios have equal chances of materializing,
with prices swinging in a wide range between $80.00 and $90.00 per barrel. Prices
are being capped by the cooling of the global economy but supported by tensions
in the Middle East.
In the United States, the manufacturing sector
is contracting, with the Manufacturing PMI for July dropping to 49.5 points,
missing the consensus of 51.7 points. Similar declines in Manufacturing PMI
were reported in Japan and the Eurozone, indicating contraction in sectors with
the highest oil consumption across all three major economies.
Despite this, the U.S. reported a fourth
consecutive week of declining oil inventories, with a drop of 3.7 million
barrels last week, surpassing the expected 2.6 million barrels. This provides
some support for oil prices, though such support may be short-lived, lasting
only a few days until the next weekly report. More substantial factors are
needed to push prices up.
In China, the central bank announced cuts to
its 5-year loan prime rate by 0.10 percentage points to 3.85% and the one-year
loan prime rate to 2.3%, down from 2.5%. This is intended to stimulate the
domestic economy, raising questions about China's economic health given a 2.3% YoY
decline in oil imports in the first six months of 2024.
Support for oil prices also comes from the
Middle East, which remains a major source of global tensions. During a meeting
with Syria's Bashar al-Assad in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin
remarked that the situation in the Middle East "tends to worsen,"
hinting at possible further escalation in the region.
Large investors appear to remain calm. The
United States Oil Fund (USO) reported a near-zero capital flow balance, with
net inflows of $31.2 million this week. This relatively low figure suggests
that while large investors may be inclined to see Brent prices rise, they are
not yet fully convinced of a positive scenario.
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