{"id":469004,"date":"2021-02-18T07:32:55","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T05:32:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=469004"},"modified":"2021-02-18T07:32:55","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T05:32:55","slug":"brent-oil-passes-65-a-barrel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/469004\/brent-oil-passes-65-a-barrel\/","title":{"rendered":"Brent oil passes $65 a barrel\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brent oil blew past $65 a barrel as a cold blast that\u2019s taken out almost 40% of US crude production morphed into a global supply shock.<\/p>\n

Futures in London jumped as much as 1.8% at the open after closing at the highest in almost 13 months. The global crude benchmark last traded above $65 on Jan. 21, 2020 before Covid-19 wreaked havoc on energy markets.<\/p>\n

More than 4 million barrels a day of US oil output is now offline, according to traders and executives, amid an unprecedented cold snap that\u2019s frozen well operations and led to widespread power cuts.<\/p>\n

A spate of refinery outages has curbed demand for crude in the country, however, while gasoline consumption is also down as the icy conditions keep many Americans off the roads.<\/p>\n

The supply shock is aiding an already frothy global oil market and is starting to roil global energy flows, with traders snapping up ocean-going tankers to haul millions of barrels of European diesel to the US.<\/p>\n

Adding to the upward momentum, the American Petroleum Institute reported an almost 6 million-barrel drop in US crude stockpiles before official government data due later on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Brent\u2019s prompt timespread moved further into a bullish backwardation structure, reflecting the tightening global supply backdrop.<\/p>\n

Estimates for how long the US outages may last have gotten longer in recent days as analysts try to figure out the timespan involved in thawing out infrastructure.<\/p>\n

As American barrels are removed from the market, North Sea traders have been frantically bidding for the region\u2019s cargoes. Buyers in Asia, meanwhile, have been snapping up Middle Eastern crude at higher premiums.<\/p>\n

Crude is up 26% this year as Saudi Arabia\u2019s deep output cuts and an improving demand outlook encourage investors.<\/p>\n

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The rally was tempered on Wednesday following a Dow Jones report citing unnamed advisers that the kingdom is planning to boost output in the coming months. Many analysts expect that the Saudis will pump more from April given the recent surge in prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis cold snap is the perfect storm for the oil market, but it\u2019s probably not the only catalyst that has driven oil to these heights,\u201d said Howie Lee, an economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. \u201cWe have Saudi Arabia supporting the market and the US inventories are coming off at such a rapid pace.\u201d<\/p>\n