As of 12:00 Beijing time, the price of Brent crude oil 2501 block orders contract was $72.08 per barrel, up 19 cents from the settlement price on November 12, with the closing price of the contract that day up 6 cents from the previous trading day.

The main contract price of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) for December is $68.28 per barrel, up 16 cents from the settlement price on November 12th, with a closing price on the contract day up 8 cents from the previous trading day.

The market is currently waiting for the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) to release the weekly crude oil inventory data up to November 8th. Last week, the EIA reported that due to an increase in net imports, US crude oil inventories increased by 2.1 million barrels in the week ending November 1st.

According to the data from the oil analysis company AlphaBBL, crude oil inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma, decreased in the week ending November 8th, while inventories at major terminals in Texas rose to the highest level in nearly four months.

Traders are also watching for the inflation report to be released by the US Department of Labor later on November 13, which may provide clues to the pace of future interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve after the 25 basis point cut to 4.5-4.75% last week.

Meanwhile, OPEC has lowered global oil demand growth forecasts for 2024 and 2025 for the fourth consecutive month.

In the Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) on November 12th, the oil-producing group lowered its demand growth forecast for 2024 by 0.11 million barrels per day to 1.82 million barrels per day. It revised China's 2024 demand growth forecast from 0.58 million barrels per day in the previous MOMR to 0.45 million barrels per day.

In terms of supply, the organization's estimates for non-OPEC+ in 2024 and 2025 remain unchanged at 1.23 million barrels per day and 1.11 million barrels per day, respectively.

Russia and India have agreed to accelerate the signing of a long-term intergovernmental agreement on crude oil supply, citing Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dennis Manturov as reported by the TASS news agency on November 12.

Manturov stated that he had discussed this issue with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adding that such an agreement would be mutually beneficial as it would specify export volumes and delivery terms. Modi had indicated during his July visit to Moscow that Russia and India were considering a long-term agreement on crude oil supply.

(The above content is from Argus, an independent international energy and commodity price assessment agency)