Oil near one-month high on supply threats, easing demand woes

• Brent oil prices held near one-month highs on Thursday supported by China’s efforts to boost its economy, a drop in new coronavirus cases at the epicentre of the outbreak and supply concerns in Venezuela and Libya.
• Brent crude futures LCOc1 were up 7 cents at $59.19 a barrel by 0939 GMT, after climbing to as high as $59.71 earlier in the day. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 climbed 17 cents to $53.46 per barrel.
• China’s move to cut its benchmark lending rate on Thursday also helped ease worries about slowing demand in the world’s second-biggest oil consumer and largest crude oil importer.
• The United States this week sanctioned a trading unit of Russian oil giant Rosneft for its ties with Venezuela’s state-run PDVSA, a move which could choke the OPEC member’s crude exports even further.
• At the same time, conflict in Libya that has led to a blockade of its ports and oilfields shows no signs of a resolution.

(Source: Reuters)