Oil steadies as traders look to China to deliver demand boost

Oil was stable as traders waited for fresh signals on the state of Chinese crude demand after the nation ditched Covid curbs.

West Texas Intermediate for March delivery was little changed above $81 a barrel after swinging between gains and losses on Monday. Futures trading volumes are likely to remain subdued during Asian hours, with many investors across the region on breaks to mark the Lunar New Year.

Oil has been driven higher over the past two weeks on expectations that the swift pivot in the world’s largest crude importer may spur daily consumption to hit a record in 2023 as mobility and industrial activity pick up. Traders are also tracking the impact of tighter curbs on Russian energy flows imposed by the European Union and US following the invasion of Ukraine.

“Across the barrel, we’re seeing tightness in diesel and gasoline, the market remains jittery ahead of the Russian products sanction,” said Keshav Lohiya, a consultant at Oilytics. He sees “a mixture of fundamental tightening and open interest picking up” as the emerging themes in the market.

“Crude has been the laggard recently,” while products have been strong, with Europe’s diesel market hit $1,000 yesterday, he said. “Diesel and other products are likely to drag crude up.”

Later Tuesday, traders will get an insight into movements in US inventories with estimates due from the American Petroleum Institute. Over the past two weeks, nationwide commercial stockpiles expanded by more than 27 million barrels, hitting the highest since June 2021, according to government figures.

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