Gloria Blog

Oil prices rose in early trading on Friday after plunging on Thursday due to mounting concerns about a global recession and an expected increase in interest rates set for next week. Brent, the benchmark for two thirds of the world’s oil, was trading 0.41 per cent higher at $91.21 a barrel at 8.47am UAE time while West Texas Intermediate, the gauge that tracks US crude, was up 0.27 per cent at $85.33 a barrel. Both benchmarks fell more than 3 per cent on Thursday after the US Department of Energy said plans to restock the nation’s emergency supply did not include a trigger price, which is any oil price below which the administration will start to buy crude. The department said that transactions were not likely to happen until after the 2023 fiscal year. Oil prices are down about 20 per cent since early June and set to post a third consecutive weekly loss, due to a strong US dollar and as markets await an interest-rate increase from the US Federal Reserve after the latest data showed hea...

As gasoline prices soar and the US considers invoking Cold War-era laws to boost production, there’s a massive pool of oil refining capacity on the other side of the Pacific Ocean that’s sitting idle. Around a third of Chinese fuel-processing capacity is currently out of action as Asia’s largest economy struggles to put the coronavirus behind it. If tapped, the extra supply of diesel and gasoline could go a long way to cooling red-hot global fuel markets, but there’s little chance of that happening. That’s because China’s refining sector is set up mainly to serve its mammoth domestic market. The government controls how much fuel can be sent abroad via a quota system that also applies to privately owned companies. And while Beijing has allowed more shipments at times over the years, it doesn’t want to become a major oil-product exporter as that would run counter to its goal of gradually de-carbonizing the economy. “China’s absence in the export market is keenly felt in the broader regio...