Oil prices rise on strong data from China

Global oil prices rose on March 1 morning, Report informs referring to the auction data.

Strong industrial data from China supports demand expectations, while investors are waiting for data on US oil inventories for the week.

The price of May futures for Brent crude rose by 0.55% to $83.91 per barrel, April futures for WTI also grew by 0.55% to $77.47.

The prospects for oil demand were supported by statistics from China, which is one of the main consumers and importers of oil in the world. Thus, the index of business activity in the industrial sector of the country in February rose to 52.6 points from 50.1 points, while the forecast was 50.5 points.

The American Petroleum Institute’s (API) assessment of commercial oil reserves in the US is somewhat holding back the growth of quotations. In the week ending February 24, domestic inventories jumped by 6.2 million barrels, according to API data. Analysts were expecting a rise of 0.4 million.

Official data from the US Department of Energy reserves will be published on March 1 evening. Experts predict that the department will report an increase in stocks for the week by only 0.5 million barrels.