FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Brent passes $50 a barrel as global disruptions mount

Brent passes $50 a barrel as global disruptions mount

SINGAPORE - Brent crude rose past $50 a barrel for the first time this year on Thursday, after a fall in US inventories that added to global disruptions which have put a dent in a chronic oversupply.

Prices nosedived from above $100 a barrel two years ago to around $27 in early 2016 due to a massive glut -- badly hurting producing nations but meaning lower prices at the pump for consumers.
However the market has rebounded on the back of disrupted production in Canada due to wildfires, outages in Venezuela, and unrest affecting energy infrastructure in Nigeria -- Africa's biggest oil exporter.
Both main contracts had been edging close to $50 for the last fortnight but a strong US dollar curtailed gains, as a firmer greenback makes the dollar-priced commodity more expensive, hampering demand. 
The surge in Asian trade came after the US Department of Energy said Wednesday that US commercial crude oil inventories fell by 4.2 million barrels in the week to May 20.
Canada's central bank also announced that the fires in its western provinces, which a major supplier of crude to the US market, would impact the country's economic output numbers. 
At 0715 GMT, Brent, the European standard, was up 34 cents at $50.08 a barrel, while US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was not far behind, trading 28 cents higher at $49.84.
"News about the US inventory, coupled with Canada's announcement gave prices the boost it needed to push past the $50 mark," CMC Markets trader Alex Wijaya told AFP. 
- AFP
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