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Crude oil futures traded higher on Thursday morning following a decline in inventories in the US.
At 10 am on Thursday, February Brent oil futures were at $77.84, up by 0.87 per cent, and January crude oil futures on WTI were at $72.73, up by 1 per cent.
December crude oil futures were trading at ₹6,038 on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) in the initial trading hour of Thursday morning, against the previous close of ₹6,026, up by 0.20 per cent, and January futures were trading at ₹6,110 against the previous close of ₹6,107, up by 0.05 per cent.
9% below 5-year average
The petroleum status report by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) for the week ending December 2, which was released on December 7, said commercial crude oil inventories (excluding those in the strategic petroleum reserve) decreased by 5.2 million barrels from the previous week. At 413.9 million barrels, US crude oil inventories were about 9 per cent below the five-year average for this time of year.
Meanwhile, there was an increase in production of crude oil in the US during the week. According to US EIA, crude oil production increased to 12.2 million barrels a day for the week ending December 2, against 12.1 million barrels a day in the previous week.
The US crude oil imports averaged 6 million barrels a day for the week ending December 2, which is fewer by 24,000 barrels a day from the previous week. Over the past four weeks, crude oil imports averaged 6.2 million barrels a day, 4.1 per cent less compared with the same period last year.
Relaxation of Covid-control norms in China also helped boost the global price of the commodity. China is a major crude oil consumer, and lockdowns to control the spread of Covid impacts the economy and, in turn, the demand for the commodity.
Guar gum, jeera flare up
December natural gas futures were trading at ₹486.40 on MCX in the initial trading hour of Thursday morning, against the previous close of ₹474.20, up by 2.57 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), December guar gum contracts were trading at ₹13,073 in the initial trading hour of Thursday morning, against the previous close of ₹12,626, up by 3.54 per cent.
December jeera futures were trading at ₹25,975 on NCDEX in the initial trading hour of Thursday morning, against the previous close of ₹25,570, up by 1.58 per cent.
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