Oil rose more than US$3 per barrel to around $51 on Thursday as rising equities markets bolstered sentiment during a G20 summit which investors hoped would deliver measures to restore global growth.
“It’s managed to pop back above $50 which could be giving the market a bit of a boost from a technical perspective,” said Tony Machacek, oil broker at Bache Commodities in London.
“There seems to be a G20 factor – the stock markets are strong and the dollar is weaker. That is also helping the market.”
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Oil prices fell on Wednesday after US government data showed crude oil stocks rose more than expected to a 16-year high. Gasoline and distillate supplies also unexpectedly rose.
Oil has fallen nearly $100 from a record high above $147 in July 2008 as the economic downturn dents global energy demand.
Qatar’s oil minister said oil prices between $40 and $50 per barrel were realistic in view of the global economic downturn, according to comments published on Thursday.
The head of the International Energy Agency said on Thursday the agency was likely to cut its global oil demand forecasts significantly as more bleak economic data emerged.
“The possibility for downward revision will be high,” Nobuo Tanaka, the agency’s executive director, told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of an energy conference.
“We now have data from not only the IMF but the OECD. They all look gloomy. Inevitably, the possible downward revision can be significant but I cannot say how big.”
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