Doha: Oil prices eased about 1 percent on Friday after top crude importer China widened its COVID-19 curbs. The crude benchmarks were poised for a weekly gain on supply concerns and surprisingly strong economic data. Brent futures fell $1.19 to settle at $95.77 a barrel.
US WTI crude fell $1.18 to $87.90. For the week, Brent rose about 2.4 percent and WTI was up about 3.4 percent . Chinese cities ramped up COVID-19 curbs on Thursday, sealing up buildings and locking down districts after China registered 1,506 new coronavirus infections on Oct. 27, the National Health Commission said, up from 1,264 new cases a day earlier.
The IMF expects China’s growth to slow to 3.2 percent this year, a downgrade of 1.2 points from its April projection, after an 8.1 percent rise in 2021. However, economic strength in two major economies limited oil’s losses. US gross domestic product (GDP) grew in the third quarter, demonstrating resilience in the world’s largest economy and oil consumer.
The German economy also expanded unexpectedly in the third quarter, data showed on Friday, as Europe’s largest economy kept recession at bay despite high inflation and energy supply worries ahead of a looming European ban on Russian crude imports.
Asian spot LNG prices slipped last week, extending declines as strong inventory levels and ample year-end cargo supply muted buying activity. The average LNG price for December delivery into north-east Asia was $30 per mmBtu, down $1 from the previous week.
Given fairly adequate storage in north-east Asia and ample cargo supply booked for November and December deliveries, buyers in the regions have seen little urgency to buy additional cargoes at the moment, analysts said. Asian buyers have been stockpiling supplies of LNG ahead of the peak winter power and gas demand season, though unexpected supply disruptions or a cold snap could lead to a spike in demand.
In Europe, prices of LNG to northwest Europe were assessed at $28.22 per mmBtu on Oct. 27. This comes amid high storage levels and as LNG cargoes wait to offload in Europe, which have led to TTF prices to trade at a discount to Asian spot LNG.
