2024-04-10 19:30:58
Oil prices were largely unchanged in Asian trade today after two days of declines, as concerns about supplies under pressure from tensions in the Middle East were offset by a bigger-than-expected rise in US inventories, Reuters reported, citing BTA.
Brent futures from the North Sea, which is the benchmark for the European market, remained at $89.42 a barrel.
U.S. light crude futures rose 2 cents to $85.25 a barrel.
Yesterday, both varieties lost about 1 percent of their price due to talks on a possible truce between Hamas and Israel.
The Palestinian group, however, said the Israeli truce proposal did not meet the conditions they demanded, but they would still study it and submit their response to the mediators. If the conflict continues, the involvement of other countries, especially Iran, is not excluded, analysts believe.
Meanwhile, U.S. crude inventories rose by 3.03 million barrels last week, according to the American Petroleum Institute, against expectations for a rise of 2.4 million barrels. Official data will be announced in the early afternoon.
U.S. crude output this year will rise by 280,000 barrels to 13.21 million barrels a day, or 20,000 above the previous forecast, according to estimates by the Energy Information Administration. The agency expects the price of Brent to average $88.55 a barrel, against a previous forecast of $87.