WTI crude futures rose to $83 per barrel on Friday, holding close to a nine-month high of nearly $85 as investors assess the global economy, interest rates, and IEA and OPEC outlooks. The IEA signaled potential declines in worldwide oil stockpiles throughout 2023, potentially pushing prices even higher. Nonetheless, the agency foresees a deceleration in demand growth during 2024 to about 1 million barrels per day (bpd), down by 150,000 bpd from their earlier prediction. OPEC indicated an expectation for global oil demand to grow by 2.25 million bpd in 2024, slightly less than the projected 2.44 million bpd increase for the current year. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia and Russia output cuts, as well as Russia-Ukraine tensions have been supporting prices. In addition, US July consumer prices sparked speculation of a potential slowdown in interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. However, China’s mixed economic data raise uncertainty about its future oil demand.
