Oil prices held steady on Friday (September 12th) as concerns about oversupply and weakening U.S. demand offset the risk of supply disruptions stemming from conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Brent crude futures rose 11 cents, or 0.2%, to $66.49 a barrel at 08:54 GMT, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 4 cents to $62.41. Brent and WTI benchmarks fell 1.7% and 2%, respectively, on Thursday.

The International Energy Agency's monthly report on Thursday stated that global oil supply will rise faster than expected this year due to planned production increases by the OPEC+ group, comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies such as Russia.

However, OPEC's own report on the same day left unchanged its relatively high forecast for oil demand growth this year and next, stating that the global economy is maintaining a solid growth trend. Despite downside risks to oil prices, factors such as tight distillate markets, continued purchases from China to replenish supplies, and potential sanctions on Russia and secondary sanctions on its customers remain supportive of the market, said PVM Oil Associates analyst John Evans.

A drone attack on the northwestern Russian port of Primorsk – one of the country's largest oil and fuel export terminals – set fire to a ship and a pumping station on Friday, the regional governor said.

On the supply side, India's largest private port operator, the Adani Group, has banned tankers sanctioned by Western countries from entering all its ports, three sources told Reuters, and documents show, potentially restricting Russian oil supplies. India is the largest buyer of Russian seaborne oil, much of it shipped on tankers sanctioned by the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom. (alg)

Source: Reuters