Oil Up $1 on Tight US Supply, China Demand

Gas prices are seen at a gas station in Los Angeles on September 28, 2023. California gas prices are nearing USD $7 per gallon in some locations as oil prices surge toward $100 a barrel. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)
Gas prices are seen at a gas station in Los Angeles on September 28, 2023. California gas prices are nearing USD $7 per gallon in some locations as oil prices surge toward $100 a barrel. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)
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Oil Up $1 on Tight US Supply, China Demand

Gas prices are seen at a gas station in Los Angeles on September 28, 2023. California gas prices are nearing USD $7 per gallon in some locations as oil prices surge toward $100 a barrel. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)
Gas prices are seen at a gas station in Los Angeles on September 28, 2023. California gas prices are nearing USD $7 per gallon in some locations as oil prices surge toward $100 a barrel. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP)

Oil prices rose on Friday and were headed for a gain of about 3% for the week, driven by tight US supply and expectations of strong fuel demand in China during the Golden Week holiday.

US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) was up $1.31, or 1.43%, to $93.02 per barrel at 1208 GMT.

Front-month Brent November futures were up 88 cents, or 0.92%, at $96.26 per barrel ahead of the contract's expiry later in the day. The more-liquid Brent December contract was up 97 cents, or 1.04%, at $94.07 per barrel.

A backdrop of tight supplies in the US provided further price support, with storage at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for US crude futures, already at its lowest since July 2022.

"Any additional decline would threaten to bring them down to a critical level, which could make further withdrawals difficult," said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.

China's fuel demand was set to firm as the week-long Golden Week holiday began on Friday.

"(An) increase in international travel during the Golden Week holiday is boosting Chinese oil demand," ANZ analysts said in a client note.

Domestic travel is also expected to boost demand, with data from flight app Umetrip showing the average number of daily flights booked is a fifth higher than for Golden Week in 2019, before COVID.

Meanwhile, inflation in the euro zone fell to a two-year low of 4.3% in September, the latest Eurostat flash reading showed, suggesting the European Central Bank's policy of steady interest rate hikes was taking effect.

Russia is considering introducing fuel export quotas if the current export ban is not effective in bringing down domestic prices.

Russian gasoline and diesel exchange prices on the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX) fell slightly on Friday.

Brent is forecast to average $89.85 a barrel in the fourth quarter, and $86.45 in 2024, according to a survey of 42 economists compiled by Reuters on Friday.



Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.