Brent Crude Oil Futures remain steady, with a significant decline in US Crude Oil Product inventories.

After rising the previous trading day due to a significant drop in US Crude Oil Product inventories, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Brent Crude Oil Futures remained basically stable during the Asian morning trading session.

As of 12:00 noon Beijing time, the price of ICE near-month Brent Crude Oil contract was $73.58 per barrel, up $6 from the settlement price on November 12, with the day's contract closing price rising $1.33 from the previous trading day.

The price of the near-month Brent Crude Oil contract on the NYMEX was $70.28 per barrel, down $1 from the settlement price on November 12, while the day's contract closing price rose $1.70 from the previous trading day.

On December 11, oil prices rose due to a decrease in US Crude Oil Product inventories. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that for the week ending December 6, US Crude Oil Product inventories fell by 1.4 million barrels to 0.422 billion barrels, down from 0.4234 billion barrels the previous week, with inventory levels 18.8 million barrels lower than the same week last year.

The inventory at the oil storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, decreased by 1.3 million barrels to 22.9 million barrels, which is also a reduction of 7.9 million barrels compared to the same period last year. The inventories in the US Midcontinent region, including Cushing, fell by 2.7 million barrels this week to 0.105 billion barrels.

However, expectations of weak demand may limit further increases in oil prices. OPEC has cut its forecast for global oil demand growth for 2024 and 2025 for the fifth consecutive time.

In the final monthly oil market report of the year, the OPEC group has lowered its forecast for oil demand growth in 2025 by 0.09 million barrels per day to 1.45 million barrels per day. This adjustment is solely due to a downward revision of its demand forecast for the Middle East. From the beginning of this year to July, OPEC had been forecasting a global demand growth of 1.85 million barrels per day for next year. The organization has also revised down this year's demand growth forecast, lowering it by 0.21 million barrels per day to 1.61 million barrels per day, primarily due to reduced growth forecasts for the Middle East, India, and the Americas.

OPEC currently expects that daily demand will grow by 1.82 million barrels and 1.54 million barrels this year and next year, respectively, whereas previous estimates were 1.93 million barrels and 1.64 million barrels. This adjustment reflects data received so far this year, but the overall forecast remains optimistic.

(The above content comes from the latest views of the independent international energy and commodity price assessment agency Argus.)