Crude oil futures rose slightly on Thursday as oil prices were supported by the decline in Saudi oil exports, the de facto leader of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and the decline in the number of active drilling rigs and crude oil stocks in the United States.
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Brent crude oil futures rose $0.35 to close at $71.97 a barrel, close to Wednesday’s five-month high of $72.27. Brent crude rose 0.6% this week, the fourth consecutive week.
U.S. crude oil futures rose $0.24 to close at $64.00 a barrel, up slightly less than 0.2% this week for the seventh consecutive week.
According to the Joint Organisation Data Initiative (JODI), Saudi crude oil exports fell by 69.77 million barrels in February from 7.254 million barrels in January.
Data released Wednesday by the American Energy Information Association (EIA) showed that U.S. crude oil, gasoline and distillate stocks fell last week, and crude oil stocks unexpectedly fell for the first time in four weeks.
“I think it’s clear that supply tightening and demand growth concerns have subsided, pushing the market to a five-month high,” said Gene McGillian, vice president of market research at Tradition Energy.
The number of oil rigs dropped this week for the first time in three weeks.
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Baker Hughes, GE’s energy services company, said in its weekly report that as of April 18, the number of active drilling rigs in the United States had dropped by eight. The report was released one day earlier because of Friday’s Good Friday holiday.
Strong U.S. retail sales data and good quarterly results from industrial companies have temporarily put global economic slowdown fears caused by poor manufacturing surveys in Asia and Europe behind.
However, the strength of the dollar limits oil price increases, and the strength of the dollar makes crude oil more expensive for global buyers.
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