Crude oil futures gain 0.47% on decline in US inventory, Brent trades above $45 a barrel

Crude oil futures edged higher to Rs 3,193 per barrel on August 13 as participants increased their long positions. Prices gained on higher drawdown in US crude inventories.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a decline in US crude inventories by 4.51 million barrels for the week-ended August 7.

However, weighing on prices is the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) forecast of a fall in global oil demand by 9.06 million barrels per day in 2020, up from an 8.95 million bpd decline expected a month ago.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) too cut its 2020 oil demand forecast on August 13, warning that reduced air travel due to the coronavirus pandemic would lower global oil demand this year by 8.1 million bpd and reduced its 2020 outlook by 140,000 bpd to 91.9 million bpd, its first downgrade in several months, Reuters’ reported.

In the futures market, crude oil for August delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 3,207 and a low of Rs 3,175 per barrel on the Multi-Commodity Exchange (MCX). So far in the current series, black gold has touched a low of Rs 2,520 and a high of Rs 3,263.

Crude oil futures for August delivery gained Rs 14, or 0.47 percent, to Rs 3,193 per barrel at 15:34 hours IST on a business turnover of 3,896 lots. The same for September delivery rose Rs 16, or 0.50 percent, to Rs 3,225 per barrel on a business volume of 135 lots.

The value of August and September's contracts traded so far is Rs 763.97 crore and Rs 2.12 crore, respectively.

“Crude may trade choppy amid mixed factors with focus on IEA’s monthly outlook”, said Ravindra Rao, VP-Head Commodity Research at Kotak Securities.

Motilal Oswal expects crude oil to trade positively with support at Rs 3,120 and Rs 3,150 levels, respectively.

West Texas Intermediate crude gained marginally 0.07 percent at $42.64 per barrel, while Brent crude, the London-based international benchmark, was up 0.15 percent to $45.36 per barrel.

For all commodities related news, click here