Brent crude oil futures prices rebounded in early Asian trading today after a sharp drop of more than $2 per barrel in the previous trading day.
As of 12:00 Beijing time, the November contract of Brent crude oil was quoted at US$69.60 per barrel, up 41 cents per barrel from the settlement price on September 10, while the contract closed down US$2.65 per barrel from the previous trading day.
The October contract of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange was quoted at $66.17 per barrel, up 42 cents per barrel from the settlement price on September 10. The contract closed down $2.96 per barrel from the previous trading day.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts that benchmark crude oil prices will be lower than previously expected over the next two years as global inventories are used to make up for delayed production growth by OPEC+ members. In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA expects the average price of WTI crude oil to be $78.80 per barrel in 2024, down $1.41 per barrel from the previous forecast. This is the lowest EIA's forecast for WTI crude oil prices in 2024 since February. The forecast for WTI crude oil prices in 2025 was also lowered to $79.63 per barrel, down $1.58 per barrel from the forecast a month ago. The price forecast for Brent crude oil in 2024 and 2025 has also been lowered, now at $82.80 per barrel and $84.09 per barrel, respectively. Although Brent crude oil prices fell below $70 per barrel on September 10 for the first time since the end of 2021, the EIA expects oil prices to return to above $80 per barrel this month as global inventories continue to decline.
U.S. offshore operators shut in 24% of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico ahead of Tropical Storm Francine, which is expected to strengthen into a hurricane on September 11 and could make landfall in Louisiana. As of September 10, about 412,070 barrels per day of offshore oil production was affected due to storm preparations, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. In addition, about 49.4 billion cubic feet per day (1.4 billion cubic meters per day) of natural gas production, or 26% of the region's output, was also forced to shut in. Operators have evacuated workers from 130 platforms. The storm will pass through an offshore region that accounts for about 15% of U.S. crude oil production and 5% of natural gas production.
The United Nations mission in Libya announced that it would restart talks on September 11 to resolve the central bank leadership crisis that has shut down most of the country's crude oil production. Any agreement between Libya's two legislative bodies and the presidential council could prompt the executive authorities in the east of the country to lift the oil export ban. Libya's crude oil production has fallen sharply from about 1 million barrels per day to 300,000 to 350,000 barrels per day since the blockade was announced on August 26, according to Argus estimates.
(The above content comes from the latest views of Argus, an independent international energy and commodity price assessment agency)
Article forwarded from: Jinshi Data
