Oil prices stabilised on Thursday following a sharp drop as concerns over shipping disruptions along the Red Sea route eased.
Brent crude futures rose 0.1 per cent to $79.75 a barrel, while US WTI crude futures traded 5 cents lower to $74.06 a barrel. Prices fell nearly 2 per cent on Wednesday as major shipping companies began returning to the Red Sea.
Hiroyuki Kikukawa, president of NS Trading, a unit of Nissan Securities, voiced easing concerns over the Red Sea shipping industry, noting that fears over tensions in the Middle East hampered further selling.
“The market is likely to try the upside again… maybe in the early new year, also on expectations of a recovery in fuel demand thanks to monetary easing in the United States and higher kerosene demand during the winter in the northern hemisphere.”
Denmark’s Maersk shipping company announced plans to send several dozen container ships through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea in the coming weeks after announcing a temporary halt to those routes in the wake of attacks by Yemen’s Houthis.
Data from the American Petroleum Institute industry group on Wednesday revealed that crude inventories rose by 1.84 million barrels in the week ended December 22, despite analysts’ previous assessment of a 2.7-million-barrel drop.
