Oil climbed above US$50 a barrel in London for the first time in six weeks after further declines in US crude and gasoline inventories eased concerns over a global glut.
Brent advanced as much as 0.7 percent. US crude inventories slipped 4.73 million barrels last week, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported Wednesday. Gasoline stockpiles dropped by 4.45 million barrels, the most since March.
Oil had traded below $50 since the start of June amid concerns rising global supply will offset curbs by Opec and its partners. Opec and non-member countries will meet later this month in St Petersburg to help monitor compliance with the output deal.
“This is a perfect demonstration that the oil market rebalancing process is actually happening,” Jan Edelmann, an analyst at HSH Nordbank AG in Hamburg, said of the inventory declines.
Brent for September settlement traded at $50.03 a barrel, up 33 cents, on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange at 1:12pm local time, climbing above $50 for the first time since June 7. Prices on Wednesday gained 86 cents, or 1.8 per cent, to close at $49.70. The global benchmark crude traded at a premium of $2.42 to September West Texas Intermediate.
WTI for August delivery, which expires Thursday, was up 24 cents to $47.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Total volume traded was about 14 per cent below the 100-day average. Prices advanced 72 cents, or 1.6 per cent, to settle at $47.12 on Wednesday. The more-active September contract added 26 cents to $47.58.
Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for WTI and the nation’s biggest oil-storage hub, fell for a ninth week to 57.5 million barrels last week, the longest run of declines since June 2014, EIA data showed. Still, U.S. production expanded for a third week to 9.43 million barrels a day in the week ended July 14, according to the EIA.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
The essentials
What: Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
When: Friday until March 9
Where: All main sessions are held in the InterContinental Dubai Festival City
Price: Sessions range from free entry to Dh125 tickets, with the exception of special events.
Hot Tip: If waiting for your book to be signed looks like it will be timeconsuming, ask the festival’s bookstore if they have pre-signed copies of the book you’re looking for. They should have a bunch from some of the festival’s biggest guest authors.
Information: www.emirateslitfest.com
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
