Oil prices increase slightly, but weekly stock loss is fixed

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices are expected to rise on Friday because of signs of rising demand in China, the second largest oil user in the world, although prices are expected to fall for a second week, as worries are raised. by the Sino-US trade war limit overall economic activity.

Brent crude oil futures, LCoC1, traded at $ 79.51 per barrel at 0521 GMT, up 22 cents (0.3%) from their last close.

Futures contracts on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) CLc1 US futures rose 19 cents, or 0.3%, to $ 68.84 per barrel.

For the week, Brent crude fell by 1.1%, while WTI futures declined by 3.5%, putting the two countries on the right track for a second consecutive weekly decline.

The number of refineries in China, the world's second-largest oil importer, hit a record 12.49 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, as some independent plants restarted operations after prolonged closures during the summer to strengthen stocks, revealed government data on Friday. .

Refinery consumption could increase until the fourth quarter, as several state-owned Chinese refiners are put back into service after maintenance.

China said Friday its economic growth was the weakest since the third quarter of 2009, weakening the solid data of refineries. Gross domestic product increased only 6.5%, missing estimates.

Weak economic data has raised fears that the country's trade war with the United States will begin to impact growth, which could limit China's demand for oil.

Trade war concerns, coupled with rising US oil inventories reported on Thursday, have limited price gains for the day.

US crude stocks climbed 6.5 million barrels last week, the fourth consecutive weekly gain, nearly triple the amount estimated by analysts, the US Energy Information Administration announced on Wednesday. [EIA/S]

"The EIA's weekly oil status report was a complete shock, which caused oil markets to plummet among developments in oil bulls," said Stephen Innes, APAC Trade Manager at OANDA in Singapore. .

Inventories rose sharply as crude oil production in the United States fell by 300,000 barrels a day to 10.9 million barrels a day last week, due to the temporary shutdown of facilities in the United States. sea ​​to deal with Hurricane Michael.

Meanwhile, Iran's oil exports may have risen in October compared with the previous month as buyers rushed to lift more shipments before the impending sanctions imposed by the United States on Nov. 4.

An unprecedented volume of Iranian oil is expected to arrive in the port of Dalian in northeastern China in early November, before the entry into force of US sanctions against Iran, according to a source of oil. 39 Iranian expedition and data concerning Refinitiv Eikon.

Up to now, a total of 22 million barrels of Iranian oil laden on supertanker oil tankers belonging to the National Iranian Tanker Co. (NITC) is expected to arrive in Dalian in October and November, the data showed. Dalian generally receives between 1 and 3 million barrels of Iranian oil each month, according to data dating back to January 2015.