Crude oil traded lower on Thursday morning as the job scenario data from the US showed a decline in new openings, a sign of the economy slowing down.
At 9.53 am on Thursday, June Brent oil futures were at $84.12, down by 1.02 per cent, and May crude oil futures on WTI were at $79.72, down by 1.10 per cent.
April crude oil futures were trading at ₹6,534 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during initial trading against the previous close of ₹6,605, down by 1.07 per cent, and May futures were trading at ₹6,566 against the previous close of ₹6632, down by 1 per cent.
Drop in US inventories
The Job Openings and Labour Turnover Survey by the Bureau of Labour Statistics in the US showed the openings at 9.931 million in February. This was the lowest level of job openings since May 2021. It was 9.209 million in May 2021.
The recent data on job openings have been taken before the banking crisis in the US. The recent crisis had also led to fears of further job cuts in that country. Citing this data, market reports noted that the weakness in the economy may lead to a decline in demand for commodities such as crude oil.
Meanwhile, a report on the petroleum status in the US, which was released by the US EIA (Energy Information Administration) for the week ending March 31, showed a decline in crude oil inventories in that country.
US commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the strategic petroleum reserve) decreased by 3.7 million barrels from the previous week. At 470 million barrels, US crude oil inventories were about 4 per cent above the five-year average for this time of year.
Total products supplied in the US over the last four-week period averaged 20.1 million barrels a day, down by 1.5 per cent from the same period last year.
US crude oil imports averaged 7.1 million barrels a day last week, an increase of 1.8 million barrels a day from the previous week. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged about 6.2 million barrels a day, 2.3 per cent less than the same four-week period last year.
Meanwhile, India on an average imported almost 1 million barrels per day (mb/d) of crude oil from Russia in FY23, ended March 2023, becoming the largest buyer of the seaborne commodity from the erstwhile Soviet Union, surpassing China.
Menthol set to top ₹1,000, turmeric gleams
April menthaoil futures were trading at ₹997.50 on MCX during initial trading against the previous close of ₹991.90, up by 0.56 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), April dhaniya contracts were trading at ₹6,836 in the initial trading hour of Thursday morning against the previous close of ₹6,768, up by 1 per cent.
April turmeric (farmer polished) futures were trading at ₹6,978 on NCDEX in the initial trading hour of Thursday morning against the previous close of ₹6,932, up by 0.66 per cent.