By Srinivas Chowdary Sunkara // petrobazaar // 23rd Sep, 2019.
Brent prices eased 12 cents to $64.28 and WTI prices closed insignificantly with 4 cents down at $58.09 a barrel on Friday. In Shanghai, Crude oil main contract futures rose by 0.3 Yuan or 0.06% to 463.9 Yuan/barrel while MCX crude futures settled Rs.12 down at Rs.4178 last week. Brent premium to WTI widened at $6.19 during the last session.
The world crude oil price index curve moved down on Friday along with the stocks and grains market on renewed concerns over US-China trade war after Chinese agriculture officials trip was cancelled to Montana and Nebraska. Brent closed the week with a biggest weekly increase since January, after an attack on Saudi's oil facilities. The question hanged over the heads was how far market got convinced with the Saudi's assurance of restoration of production by the month end, which pared the Monday's gains during the week. Turning to weekly numbers, US drillers cut 14 oil rigs in the week to Sep, 20 bringing total count down to 719 as per Baker Hughes report, which should support US crude prices. On the supply side, The impact of Tropical Storm Imelda on refineries in Texas has eased as Exxon Mobil and Valero restarted their crude processing units over the week end.
Today, Asian markets opened with a gap up of more than 1% on escalation of middle east tensions after The pentagon ordered additional troops deployed in the Gulf region to strengthen Saudi Arabia's air and missile defenses following the last week's attacks.
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