Oil is rising in spite of the economic concerns

Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Friday, after falling by 2 percent in the previous session, in the wake of central banks raising interest rates, and are heading towards ending the week’s transactions higher after a series of positive expectations for oil demand.

By 0109 GMT, Brent crude futures were up 36 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $81.57 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 25 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $76.36 a barrel.

The two benchmarks are heading towards ending the week up by more than seven percent.

The market received support this week from the expectations of the International Energy Agency regarding the recovery of Chinese demand next year, after its contraction in 2022 to 400 thousand barrels per day. The agency raised its forecast for oil demand growth in 2023 to 1.7 million barrels per day.

On Tuesday, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) announced its commitment to its forecast for global demand growth of 2.55 million barrels per day (bpd) this year and 2.25 million bpd in 2023 after multiple cuts, saying that although the economic slowdown was “quite clear” there was a potential pick-up. Stemming from, among other things, easing China’s zero Covid policy.