Oil rises as Biden wins, OPEC+ deal can be tweaked

-


 LONDON:

Oil rose on Monday, with Brent topping $40 a barrel, after Joe Biden clinched the US presidency and buoyed risk appetite, and the Saudi oil minister said an OPEC+ deal on output cuts could be adjusted to offset rising supply and weak demand.

Brent crude had climbed $1.28, or 3.2%, to $40.73 a barrel by 1116 GMT and US West Texas Intermediate crude was at $38.40, up $1.26, or 3.4%.

“Oil prices surged on Monday benefiting from a risk-on stance and a weaker US dollar driven by Joe Biden becoming president-elect,” said Giovanni Staunovo, oil analyst for UBS.

Biden will convene a coronavirus task force on Monday to examine the number one problem confronting him when he takes office in January.

Oil prices remain under pressure by renewed lockdown measures in Europe aimed at containing a rise in Covid-19 cases.

Keisuke Sadamori, International Energy Agency (IEA) Director for Energy Markets and Security, told Reuters the new lockdowns appear set to push the outlook for global oil demand towards the downside.

“Major parts of the European continent are in lockdown. This would surely work towards the negative side,” he said.

Meanwhile, the dollar weakened, hitting a 10-week low and boosting commodities priced in the greenback as they became more affordable for investors holding other currencies.

Prices also found some support after Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said the OPEC+ deal on oil output cuts could be adjusted as it has been in the past if there is consensus among members of the group.

The Saudi minister was commenting after being asked whether OPEC+ - which groups Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) states, Russia and other producers - would stick to existing cuts of 7.7 million barrels per day (bpd), rather than easing them from January to 5.7 million bpd.

Key OPEC members are wary of Biden relaxing measures on Iran and Venezuela, which could mean an increase in oil production that would make it harder to balance supply with demand.

“While a Biden presidency increases the likelihood of Iranian oil supply returning to the market, this is not something that will happen overnight, and we still believe it’s more likely an end of 2021/2022 event,” ING said in a note.

China, the world’s top crude importer, posted a 12% decline in October imports compared with September. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maryam, Capt Safdar among other PML-N leaders booked in another case

-
Image
  LAHORE: Maryam Nawaz, Capt (retd) Safdar Awan and other Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) leaders were booked on Tuesday for violating provincial laws on the day of the Gujranwala rally, in a case registered at the Shahdara police station. The PML-N leaders have been booked for violating the Punjab Sound Systems (Regulation) Act 2015 and Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960. The FIR states that the Shahdara Chowk was blocked by containers without the concerned authorities' permission, that affected the flow of traffic resulting in citizens being stranded on the road for hours. Besides PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and Captain (retd) Safdar, Malik Riaz, Samiullah Khan, Malik Pervez, Ali Pervez Malik have been nominated in the FIR. The case has also been registered against Bilal Yasin, Samiullah Khan, Saif-ul-Muluk Khokhar and some 2,000 to 2,200 unidentified people. The FIR further states, in what appears to be a reference to Maryam Nawaz's address to pa
Read more

Obsessed with Pakistan, Indian media left red-faced after falling for doctored footage

-
Image
  Indian television news channels were left red-faced when they had to retract what they were vociferously peddling as an admission by a former Pakistani diplomat of dozens of deaths in India’s “Balakot air strike” was in fact a doctored video. Footage purportedly showing former diplomat and Pakistani analyst  Zafar Hilaly  admitting that 300 people were killed in the  Balakot airstrike  carried out by the Indian Air Force (IAF) inside Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) was widely shared on Indian Twitter as well as various media outlets in the neighbouring country. The Express Tribune  found the claim to be false as the video of Hilaly making the claims has been doctored. In the edited video, Hilaly can be heard in the televised debate on local news channel  Hum News  saying:“India crossed the international border and carried out an act of war in which at least 300 were reported dead. Our target was different from theirs. We targeted their high command. That was our legitimate target because th
Read more

Why Bushra Ansari decided to end her marriage of 36 years

-
Image
  Pakistani veteran star Bushra Ansari is adored by fans globally. The actor, whose fruitful career spans over three decades, has given some of the most memorable performances over the course of her acting journey. Ansari is also someone, who doesn't shy away from speaking her mind. While she prefers to keep her personal life rather separate from her professional front, in January this year, the  Udaari  star spoke about her marriage and divorce for the first time. In conversation with Ahsan Khan on a local TV channel, Ansari had revealed that she had gotten divorced five years ago and never shared the matter with her fans and why she still refrained from sharing her struggles. "The problem with being a celebrity is that like all our success, our problems become larger than life as well. So much that they become the success or failures of those who idealise us," she had said. Ansari added that she did not want to reveal her problems because her fans might be disheartened.
Read more