Oil prices climbed during Thursday's trading amid thin volumes as the year-end holiday period continued. However, decisions by China and preliminary data on U.S. oil inventories helped expand oil's gains today.
Current Oil Prices
In trading:
- Brent crude futures rose by 0.50%, reaching $73.95 per barrel.
- WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude futures increased by 0.54%, trading at $70.48 per barrel.
What Drove Oil Prices Today?
The rise in oil prices was driven by China's financial stimulus measures. On Wednesday, the People’s Bank of China announced an injection of 300 billion yuan in liquidity through medium-term lending facilities, maintaining the interest rate at 2.0%.
This came after China's central government gave local officials greater flexibility to use revenues from government bonds to stimulate economic growth. The government also kept interest rates unchanged, continuing a moderately accommodative monetary policy in preparation for stronger measures at the start of the new year.
In the United States, preliminary data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) indicated a 3.2 million barrel drop in commercial oil inventories last week.
If official data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) confirm these figures, it will mark the fifth consecutive weekly decline in oil inventories. However, U.S. oil stocks typically decrease in December before rising during the early months of the new year.
Annual Performance
Overall, Brent crude is heading for an annual decline of approximately 4%, with the benchmark remaining in a relatively narrow trading range since mid-October.
