Oil Prices Holding Thursday's Recovery

Oil prices are flat on Friday after facing pressure this week from Chinese weakness and a potential Gaza ceasefire.

• Brent SEP 24 up 0.1% at 82.47$/bbl
• WTI SEP 24 up 0.1% at 78.37$/bbl
• Prices remain on track for their third straight week of declines.
• China’s apparent oil demand fell by 8.1% in June to 13.66 million barrels per day, raising concerns about consumption according to ANZ Research.
• Thursday’s unexpected China stimulus included a 20bp MLF cut and a 2000bn liquidity injection, which follows Monday’s 10bp reduction in key rates.
• The U.S. economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter leaving Fed rate cut expectations intact.
• Brent SEP 24-OCT 24 down -0.02$/bbl at 0.96$/bbl
• Brent OCT 24-NOV 24 down -0.01$/bbl at 0.8$/bbl
• More U.S. economic data is due out later today when the Fed will report personal consumption expenditure data.
• U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to add pressure towards a ceasefire deal – seemingly striking a tougher approach than Biden.
• U.S. officials believe the parties are closer than ever to reaching an agreement.
• Meanwhile, an export slowdown out of Russia and Saudi as well as Fed cut optimism has provided support.
• A number of lightning strikes this week have started a range of new wildfires in Canada, putting oil production under threat.
• A Bloomberg survey of 23 traders and analysts showed only 10 are expecting the OPEC+ group to fully implement the proposed 543kbpd production increase for Q4 2024.