Oil prices rise on supply cuts, but global slowdown looms

• Oil prices rose on Tuesday amid supply cuts by producer club OPEC and Russia, although a darkening economic outlook may soon weigh on growth in fuel demand. Brent crude oil futures LCOc1 were at $59.47 per barrel at 0950 GMT, up 48 cents, or 0.81 percent, from their last close.

 

• S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $50.92 per barrel, also up 0.81 percent, or 41 cents.  “OPEC-led cuts and declining U.S. rig counts have bolstered market sentiment in the new year,” Singapore-based brokerage Phillip Futures said.

 

• On the demand side, an economic slowdown continues to loom over oil and financial markets. The gains in crude futures on Tuesday came after losses of more than 2 percent the previous session as weak Chinese trade data pointed to a global economic slowdown. HSBC said it was cutting its average 2019 Brent price forecast by $16 per barrel, to $64 per barrel, citing surging U.S. production and an “increasingly uncertain demand backdrop”.

 

(Source: Reuters)