Brent Crude trades at $78.9 after 2-day loss

Brent crude futures hovered around $78.9 a barrel on Thursday, following two days of losses and easing from Wednesday’s three-year high of $80.75, as an unexpected rise in US inventories and concerns over the pace of China’s recovery hit sentiment.

EIA data showed US crude inventories rose by 4.6 million barrels last week, defying market expectations of a 1.7 million barrel drop.

At the same time, the power crisis in China, alongside PMI data pointing to continued weakness in the manufacturing sector, added to investors’ worries.

Meanwhile, next week, OPEC+ is expected to hold to a pact on adding 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) to its output for November.

Brent Crude oil is a major benchmark price for purchases of oil worldwide. While Brent Crude oil is sourced from the North Sea the oil production coming from Europe, Africa and the Middle East flowing West tends to be priced relative to this oil.

Source: Trading Economics