Brent crude futures traded around $105 a barrel on Thursday morning following reports that Saudi Arabia would offer crude cargoes through Oman.
At 10.01 am on Thursday, November Brent oil futures were at $105.87, down by 0.04 per cent, and October crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $102.38, down by 0.05 per cent. September crude oil futures were trading at ₹9815 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) during the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹9819, down by 0.04 per cent, and October futures were trading at ₹9375 against the previous close of ₹9354, up by 0.22 per cent.
Quoting unnamed sources, a Reuters report said Saudi Arabia is offering more loadings of crude oil to Asian refiners via ship-to-ship transfer off Oman’s Sohar port. The report eased concerns over the supply disruptions.
Saudi Arabia’s key East-West pipeline was damaged in the recent drone attacks by the Houthis.
Meanwhile, the weekly petroleum status report by the US EIA (Energy Information Administration) showed a decline in crude oil inventories in the US for the week ending September 11. This was in contrast to the estimates of the industry body American Petroleum Institute (API), which had estimated a rise of 7.1 million barrels for the week ending September 11.
According to EIA, commercial crude oil inventories in the US decreased by 0.6 million barrels to 423.4 million barrels, 1 per cent above the five-year average, for the week ending September 11.
Gasoline inventories increased 0.8 million barrels, 5 per cent below the five-year average. Distillate inventories increased 1.6 million barrels, 13 per cent below the five-year average.
Over the past four weeks, total products supplied in the US averaged 20.5 million barrels a day, down 0.6 per cent year-over-year. The four-week average for gasoline products supplied decreased 1 per cent year-over-year to 8.8 million barrels a day, while the four-week average for distillate products supplied decreased 3.3 per cent to 3.6 million barrels a day. The four-week average for jet fuel products supplied increased 4.4 per cent year-over-year.
September zinc futures were trading at ₹422.60 on MCX during the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹420.10, up by 0.60 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), September cottonseed oilcake contracts were trading at ₹2570 in the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹2540, up by 1.18 per cent.
October dhaniya futures were trading at ₹14548 on NCDEX in the initial hour of trading on Thursday against the previous close of ₹14604, down by 0.38 per cent.