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RIYADH: Oil firmed slightly on Tuesday, recovering from a 2 percent slide in the previous session, as faster economic growth in top crude importer China supported the demand outlook and offset fears over US interest rates.
China’s economy grew by a faster-than-expected 4.5 percent in the first quarter, with hopes of oil demand recovery buoyed further by a surge in oil refinery throughput to record levels in March.
Brent crude climbed 12 cents to $84.88 a barrel at 11.30 a.m. Saudi time and the US West Texas Intermediate rose 8 cents to $80.91.
BP’s chief economist sees oil market tightening in H2 2023
The global oil market will likely tighten in the second half of 2023 after the recent decision by the Organization and Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, to cut oil production, according to Spencer Dale, BP plc’s chief economist.
There is a scope for oil markets to tighten a bit in case China’s oil demand and its overall economy recovers, Dale told reporters in a press conference.
Shell restarts Pierce field operations in the UK North Sea
Shell has restarted operations at the Pierce field in the UK Central North Sea, following an upgrade to allow gas to be produced after years of producing only oil.
Pierce is a joint venture between Shell, which owns 92.5 percent of the stake, and Ithaca Energy owns the rest.
Peak production at the field is expected to reach 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, the energy major said in a statement, which is more than twice the production before redevelopment, with more gas than oil.
Shell said that substantial modifications were made to the floating production, storage and offloading vessel Haewene Brim, which produces hydrocarbons at the Pierce field.
The FPSO, owned and operated by Bluewater, stopped production in October 2021 to enable the field’s upgrade.
US emergency crude oil reserves fall by 1.58m barrels
Crude oil stored in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve fell by 1.58 million barrels last week to its lowest in nearly 40 years, data from the Department of Energy showed, on a mandated sale of oil from the emergency stash.
Stocks in the SPR fell to 368 million barrels in the week to April 14, its lowest level since Oct 1983, based on DOE and Energy Information Administration data.
The Biden administration this year has sold 26 million barrels of crude from the reserve through release mandated by Congress in previous years.