Brent climbs above $87 to highest level since April

By Duygu Alhan

The price of Brent oil rose above $87 on Friday, its highest level since April, with data indicating a fall in crude oil stocks in the US, the world's biggest oil-consuming country, along with a forecast of a busy travel season during the summer and escalating geopolitical tensions in the Mideast.

International benchmark Brent crude traded at $87.52 per barrel at 10.22 a.m. local time (0722GMT), up 0.10% from the closing price of $87.43 per barrel in the previous trading session.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $84.10 per barrel, a 0.04% rise from the previous session when it closed at $84.06 per barrel.

The Energy Information Administration's (EIA) official statistics showed a 12.2 million barrel decline in commercial crude oil stocks in the US. The market expectation was that stocks would decline by about 400,000 barrels.

The data also showed that US crude oil production fell by 27,000 barrels per day (bpd) to around 13.58 million bpd during the week ending June 28. The decrease in oil production reinforced supply concerns among market participants and helped push oil prices up.

Meanwhile, the expectation that travel will increase this summer further supported the idea that demand will continue to rise, lending upward support for prices.

Moreover, geopolitical tensions in the Mideast and the Red Sea, one of the world's most frequently used sea routes for oil and fuel shipments, continue to impact oil prices.

Yemen's Houthis reported three fresh US-British airstrikes late Thursday against sites in the western Al Hudaydah province.

Meanwhile, negative economic data in the world's largest oil consumer limited upward price movement by causing demand concerns among market players.

The latest data showed that US private payrolls rose 150,000 in June, below market expectations and annual wage growth also showed its slowest increase since August 2021, at 4.9%.

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits for the first time in the US also increased by 4,000 to 238,000 in the week ending June 29 compared to the previous week, exceeding expectations.