Oil prices continued to climb in early trading on Monday as WTI rose to $91.60 while Brent traded at $94.74.
Falling crude inventories and the continuation of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)+ cuts have sparked an oil price rally that is showing no signs of slowing.
Analysts say prices hit the $100 marks.
China’s latest stimulus measures have only added to bullish sentiment, with hopes rising that the Asian giant is set to get its economy back on track.
Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Monday, extending last week’s gains amid expectations of an increasingly tighter market and hopes that China’s latest stimulus measures would revitalize the economy.
WTI Crude prices were trading above $91 per barrel in early Asian trade on Monday, at $91.50, up by 0.85%. The international benchmark, Brent Crude, was above the $94 a barrel mark and traded 0.69% higher at $94.57.
Falling global inventories amid a tightening market with the OPEC+ and Saudi production cuts have supported oil prices in recent weeks.
One of China’s latest policy moves to jumpstart the economy has also made market participants and analysts more bullish on oil. Last week, China cut the reserve ratio for banks for a second time this year in a move to increase liquidity in the system.
“China’s stimulus policy, resilient US economic data, and OPEC+’s ongoing output cuts are the bullish factors that support the oil market’s upside movement,” Tina Teng, a market analyst at CMC Markets, wrote in a note.
Senior market analyst at OANDA, Ed Moya, said that “After a third week of gains, crude prices are not seeing the typical profit-taking as the short-term crude demand outlook gets a boost from improving US and Chinese economic data.
“The oil market is going to stay tight a while longer, but we might need to see a fresh catalyst to send oil to triple digits,” Moya added.
