By Alex Ho
Oil prices were mixed Thursday after jumping more than 2% in the previous session in the hope that China is gaining ground in its fight against the outbreak of coronavirus.
Futures on the WTI crude oil US rose 0.1% to settle at 51,19$ at 07h55. Futures on the Brent oil at the international lost 0.3% 55,64$.
The price of oil rose on Wednesday after China said the confirmed cases inside the country had decreased for two consecutive days.
The markets were put under pressure again today after the chinese province of Hubei has reported around 15 000 new cases of coronavirus so that it alters its method of counting infections.
The government of the province stated that it had conducted a review of suspected cases earlier and revised its data to include cases of “clinically diagnosed” in its disclosure daily.
In other news, OPEC, in its monthly report, said demand in 2020 for its crude will average of 29.3 million barrels per day, 200,000 b/d less than it previously thought. OPEC has pumped below this rate in January, suggesting a deficit in supply in 2020.
On the front of the data, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that oil stocks rose by 7.5 million barrels for the week ended February 7. Analysts were expecting an increase of about 3 million barrels, according to forecasts compiled by Investing.com.
The gasoline stocks have dropped from 95 000 barrels, against expectations of an increase of approximately 550,000 barrels. Stocks of distillates fell 2 million barrels, compared to forecasts for a decline of about 560,000 barrels.
