On Monday, oil prices rose from multi-month lows as investors’ appetite increased as a result of news on US jobs and Chinese exports that allayed fears of a recession.
By 0638 GMT, Brent crude futures had increased 81 cents, or 0.9%, to $95.73 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up 75 cents or 0.8 percentage points at $89.76 a barrel.
Following an unexpected acceleration in job creation in July in the United States, the world’s largest oil consumer, both futures settled higher on Friday. China also astonished the markets on Sunday with a faster-than-anticipated increase in exports.
According to Stephen Innes, managing director of SPI Asset Management, indications of weak demand in US inventories from the previous week had encouraged trades based on a deteriorating outlook. The jobs and exports numbers, however, had partly altered that perception, he continued.
Front-month Brent prices fell 13.7 percent last week, marking their greatest weekly decline since April 2020, while WTI prices fell 9.7 percent as worries about how a recession might affect oil demand weighed on prices. Both benchmarks reached their lowest levels since February.
According to customs data, China, the world’s largest oil importer, imported 8.79 million barrels of crude per day (bpd) in July, up from a four-year low in June but still 9.5 percent less than a year earlier.
