fundamental News - OIL


WTI oil for February delivery rose 66 cents to $53.70 a barrel Thursday. Brent crude oil for March delivery rose 36 cents to $56.42 a barrel.

In its closely watched oil market report released Jan. 14, OPEC kept its 2021 global demand forecast little changed at 95.91 million b/d, compared with 95.89 million b/d last month. The forecast is still 5.9 million b/d higher than 2020.

While rising COVID-19 infections and additional lockdown measures are affecting most major OECD countries, "the situation in emerging economies seems to have improved lately," OPEC said.

But pandemic risks continue to stalk the market. Initial US unemployment claims jumped to a five-month-high 945,000 in during the week-ended Jan. 9, Labor Department data showed Jan. 14, exceeding market expectations of around 800,000 claims.

A weak labor market is likely to create headwinds for refined product demand recovery, especially gasoline. US driving activity edged 0.2% higher in the week ended Jan. 8, according to Apple mobility data, but was still near levels last seen in late May.