Oil prices rose slightly in weak holiday trading on Thursday on hopes of additional fiscal stimulus from China, the world’s largest oil importer. An expected drop in U.S. crude inventories also helped.
Brent crude futures rose 13 cents, or 0.2%, to $73.71 a barrel by 0650 GMT. WTI crude was up 0.2%, or 11 cents, at $70.21 a barrel from Tuesday’s pre-Christmas close.
Beijing is ramping up fiscal stimulus to revive a faltering economy.
China plans to boost fiscal support for consumption next year by increasing pension and health insurance subsidies and expanding exchanges for consumer goods, its finance ministry announced on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Chinese authorities have reportedly agreed to issue 3 trillion yuan ($411 billion) worth of special treasury bonds next year, sources said.
Crude oil prices rose this week on reports that Chinese authorities are implementing a record-breaking 3 trillion yuan fiscal stimulus to revive their struggling economy.
In addition, falling U.S. crude oil inventories, indicating healthy demand, are also supporting prices.
Expectations that fossil fuel production and demand will increase after Trump takes office next month are also seen supporting oil prices.
A survey showed U.S. crude oil inventories are expected to fall by about 1.9 million barrels in the week to Dec. 20. Gasoline and distillate stocks are expected to fall by 1.1 million barrels and 0.3 million barrels, respectively.
U.S. crude and distillate stocks fell last week, market sources said on Tuesday, citing figures from the American Petroleum Institute (API).
The latest data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistics arm of the US Department of Energy, is due at 1800 GMT on Friday.
On the supply side, the Libyan National Oil Company (NOC) said on Wednesday that the country’s average crude oil production in 2024 exceeded its target of about 1.4 million barrels per day.
