Oil prices rose today and reached their highest levels in a month, supported by the disruption of Libyan exports and expectations of a decrease in US crude inventories, but the high cases of Coronavirus in Asia limited the gains. Libya declared a situation of force majeure on exports from the port of Harika and said it may extend the measure to other facilities due to a budget dispute.
Brent crude recorded its highest level since March 18 at $ 67.55 a barrel, before retreating to trade around $ 67 levels, while WTI rose to $ 64.34 a barrel, before retreating to $ 63.60 levels.
Coronavirus cases worldwide have exceeded 141.7 million, and the high number of infections in India, the world's third largest oil importer, has dampened optimism about a sustainable demand recovery. Oil was supported by the weak US dollar, which makes oil cheaper for buyers who use other currencies.
Later, the focus will be on the American Petroleum Institute's report on US supplies, which will be released this evening, and US crude inventories are expected to decrease by 2.9 million barrels.
