Oil advanced on Monday as investors look for signals to indicate changes in demand following a period of turbulence. While fears of an impending U.S. recession and the ongoing banking instability shook investor confidence, oil prices were offset by a drop in crude supplies from stationary tankers, leading to the lowest global supply level since mid-February.
West Texas Intermediate advanced 2.3% on Monday, thereby adding to Friday’s 4% gain amid the release of better-than-expected U.S. employment data.
Despite the recent rise in prices, Brent crude remains 11% lower for the year to date. This comes after an extensive period of aggressive monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve in an effort to combat rising inflation.
Investors await the delivery of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ monthly snapshot on Thursday. OPEC and its allies, including Russia, issued an unexpected cut in output last month, with the risk of a further price cut to come, Vishnu Varathan, Asia head of economics and strategy at Mizuho Bank Ltd, claimed.