Oil was found trading higher in yesterday’s trading session as the market see signs of a decrease in the U.S. stockpiles and reports that Saudi Arabia will cut down its exports to some Asian importers in July and further cut its imports to the United States.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exported is set to limit its crude imports to Asian countries in July to a near total of 300,000 barrels per day, which is significantly less for the month of June, and at the same time cutting its supply to the United States by about 35 percent.
Prices took a dive of 5 percent last week after data from the U.S. Department of Energy showed a surprise increase in stockpiles.
International benchmark Brent Crude futures ended the session with an increase of 14 cents which was 0.3 percent at $48.29 per barrel, and later rose by more than 2 percent to a session high of $49.15 U.S. The U.S. West Texas Intermediate WTI crude futures gained by 25 cents or 0.6 percent, to settle at $46.08 having peaked at $46.71.
Some analysts said the rise looked technical in nature, after WTI rallied and encouraged a similar move in the Brent market. But they said the move might be temporary.
Traders also noted that the increase in price came as the data showed speculative traders have taken risk and increased their investment in crude futures by taking on large volumes of long positions.