Brent futures climbed 49 cents, or 1.1%, to $45.77 a barrel at 4:06 am GMT, while WTI futures rose 37 cents, or 0.9%, to $42.98 a barrel.
The current weakness in the dollar in the wake of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy shift on inflation announced last week is expected to push the currency to a more than two-year low and a fourth straight month of losses, according to analyst reports. Due to the strong inverse correlation between the dollar and crude prices, a dollar helps to provide support for the global crude complex, which has been a significant backstop in the past few weeks.
The Caixin/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index, or PMI, was largely in expansion territory at 53.1 for August, compared with 52.8 in July and higher than market expectations of 52.7, according to IHS Markit.
This comes a day after official manufacturing PMI for the month of August came in at 51.0, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China on August 31.
According to Vandana Hari, founder and CEO of oil consultancy firm Vanda Insights, the crude complex is likely to gain a boost from positive economic data from oil second biggest consumer.
Still, rising coronavirus, or COVID-19, case counts worldwide, continued to dampen market sentiments on the prospect for a full recovery in energy demand.
Meanwhile, Platts analysts are expecting US oil inventories to fall by 1.2 million barrels to 506.6 million barrels for the week ended August 28, on the back of reopening economic activity and stronger US crude exports. Gasoline stocks are also expected to fall by 4.7 million barrels to about 234.5 million barrels while distillate inventories decline by about 900,000 barrels to 178.3 million barrels.
Market participants will look to fresh cues from the inventory reports by the American Petroleum Institute and the US Energy Information Administration on September 1 and 2, respectively.
MARKETS NEWS:
* Oman Sets Crude Selling Price at $44.32/Bbl for October: DME
* Abu Dhabi’s Cut in Oil Exports Signals a Slash in October Output
* Libya to Evacuate Sharara Oil Field After Worker Gets Covid: NOC
* Petronas Sets MCO Oil Official Price at $48.37/Bbl for August
* Venezuelan Vessel Threatens to Spill Oil on Coast: Union
* U.S. June Gasoline Demand Down 15% From 2019 at 8.29M B/D: EIA
* U.S. June Crude Oil Output Up 4.2% M/M to 10.436M B/D: EIA
* U.S. Gulf Shuts in 989,414 B/D or 53.5% Oil Production: BSEE
OTHER NEWS:
* Trader Buys Seized Gasoline Thought to Defy Venezuela Sanctions
PHYSICAL CRUDE NEWS:
* ASIA: Aramco to Reduce Light Oil Price; Adnoc Cuts Supply
* LATAM: Kolmar Buys Seized Gasoline; LPG Tenders
* US/CANADA: Pipe Link for Jefferson Facility Ready in Dec.
* NSEA: BFOET Exports to Rise; Johan Sverdrup Matches Record
* MED: Surgut Closes Urals Tender; Heide Refinery Plans Work
* WAF: Ghana to Cut Sankofa, TEN Exports; Rabi Blend to Gain
OIL PRODUCT NEWS:
* U.S.: A Legal Battle Over Gasoline Cargo
* ASIA: Indian, South Korean Diesel Exports Surge
ECONOMIC EVENTS: (Times are London.)
* 9:30pm: API weekly oil inventory report
* Bloomberg survey on OPEC’s August crude production
* Most Bloomberg monthly crude oil tanker-tracking stories for August to be published, including those for Saudi Arabia and West Africa
ANALYST COLUMNS:
* Crude Oil in Floating Storage 171% Higher Than Year Ago: Vortexa
OTHER FINANCIAL MARKETS:
* Dollar Extends Losses; Asian Stocks Seek Direction: Markets Wrap
Singapore 380 INDIC
Oct20 267.50 / 269.50
Nov20 267.00 / 269.00
Dec20 267.50 / 269.50
Jan21 269.00 / 271.00
Feb21 270.75 / 272.75
Mar21 272.50 / 274.50
Q4-20 267.50 / 269.50
Q1-21 270.75 / 272.75
Q2-21 275.25 / 277.25
Q3-21 278.50 / 281.50
CAL21 274.75 / 277.75
Rotterdam 3.5% INDIC
Oct20 253.75 / 255.75
Nov20 252.00 / 254.00
Dec20 251.50 / 253.50
Jan21 253.00 / 255.00
Feb21 254.50 / 256.50
Mar21 256.00 / 258.00
Q4-20 252.50 / 254.50
Q1-21 254.50 / 256.50
Q2-21 258.50 / 260.50
Q3-21 261.25 / 264.25
CAL21 257.25 / 260.25
Singapore VLSFO 0.5% INDIC
Oct20 329.00 / 334.00
Nov20 331.75 / 336.75
Dec20 334.50 / 339.50
Jan21 337.75 / 342.75
Feb21 340.75 / 345.75
Mar21 343.50 / 348.50
Q4-20 331.75 / 336.75
Q1-21 340.75 / 345.75
Q2-21 348.25 / 354.25
Q3-21 355.00 / 361.00
CAL21 351.00 / 357.00
Rott VLSFO 0.5% INDIC
Oct20 309.50 / 314.50
Nov20 311.75 / 316.75
Dec20 314.25 / 319.25
Jan21 317.75 / 322.75
Feb21 321.25 / 326.25
Mar21 324.50 / 329.50
Q4-20 312.00 / 317.00
Q1-21 321.25 / 326.25
Q2-21 329.25 / 335.25
Q3-21 336.00 / 342.00
CAL21 331.75 / 337.75
Sing 10ppm GO INDIC
Oct20 49.43 / 49.57
Nov20 49.82 / 50.02
Dec20 50.28 / 50.48
Jan21 50.84 / 51.04
Feb21 51.42 / 51.62
Mar21 51.99 / 52.19
Q4-20 49.85 / 50.05
Q1-21 51.42 / 51.62
Q2-21 52.98 / 53.18
Q3-21 54.23 / 54.43
CAL21 53.30 / 53.70
ICE Gasoil 10ppm INDIC
Oct20 372.80 / 374.80
Nov20 372.80 / 374.80
Dec20 377.35 / 379.35
Jan21 381.64 / 383.64
Feb21 386.68 / 388.68
Mar21 391.61 / 393.61
Q4-20 374.30 / 376.30
Q1-21 386.64 / 388.64
Q2-21 397.52 / 399.52
Q3-21 408.70 / 410.70
CAL21 402.31 / 404.31