| At 10:23 am Singapore time (0223 GMT), the ICE January Brent futures contract was up 14 cents/b (0.17%) from the previous close at $82.45/b, while the NYMEX January light sweet crude contract was 25 cents/b (0.32%) higher at $78.75/b.
Oil prices continued to climb after settling 2.3%-3.3% higher overnight as investors deemed the scale of the SPR releases by several major oil-consuming economies insufficient to offset the current shortage of oil the world faces. Crude oil futures were higher in mid-morning trade in Asia Nov. 24, extending gains of more than 3% overnight, after major oil-consuming economies announced a smaller-than-expected release from their strategic petroleum reserves. Some bearish pressures also came from an unexpected build in US crude oil and gasoline inventories last week. (S&P Global Platts)
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday his government would release some oil reserves, without giving details. The Nikkei newspaper reported Japan will hold auctions for about 4.2 million barrels of oil out of its national stockpile by the end of this year. Analysts said the effect on prices of the coordinated release was likely to be short-lived after years of declining investment and a strong global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The coordinated release may add about 70 million to 80 million barrels of crude supply, smaller than the more-than-100 million barrels the market has been pricing in, analysts at Goldman Sachs said. (Reuters)
All eyes are on how the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Russia and their allies, together called OPEC+, will react to the joint reserve release when they meet on Dec. 2 to discuss policy. The United Arab Emirates energy minister said on Tuesday he saw no logic in the Gulf OPEC producer supplying more oil to global markets when all indicators pointed to a supply surplus in the first quarter of next year. (Reuters)
OIL MARKET ROUND-UP: (Bloomberg)
* API Reports U.S. Crude Stockpiles Rose 2.31M Bbl Last Week
* Canadian Oil Drilling Seen Surpassing Pre-Covid Levels in 2022
* U.S. Wants Oil Supply to Grow Domestically and Abroad: Granholm
* South Korea’s October Exports of Jet Fuel Declines M/m: KNOC
* Biden Says Gasoline Suppliers Not Passing Savings to Consumers
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