Chinese demand optimism drives Brent higher

Front-month ICE Brent has jumped $3.37/bbl higher on the day, to $78.66/bbl at 09.00 GMT.

PHOTO: Sinopec's Hainan refinery in China. Sinopec

Upward pressure:

“Oil recovers as the dust continues to settle” after a few weeks of banking turmoil and volatile trading, says Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.

China's crude oil imports are expected to rise by 6% on the year, to 540 million mt in 2023, according to the annual forecast of the China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), reported by Reuters. CNPC has forecast that China's crude oil imports will average 10.8 million b/d this year.

Downward pressure:

Analysts polled by Reuters think US crude oil stockpiled grew by 200,000 bbls in the week that ended 24 March.

Global financial stability is at risk amid "exceptionally high" macroeconomic uncertainty, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned. IMF’s managing director, Kristalina Georgievab, predicts that global growth will fall below 3% this year as "scarring from the pandemic, the Ukraine war, and monetary tightening” is hurting economic activity.

ExxonMobil has announced that it will begin shutting down its refinery in the Gravenchon region of France, says ANZ commodity strategist Daniel Hynes, adding that the refinery represents “20% of the country’s refinery capacity.” ING has explained that France is one of the largest buyers of crude oil from OPEC member Nigeria, and that French refinery strikes will dent demand for Nigerian crude exports.

By Konica Bhatt

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