In the first trading session of the week on December 18 (Vietnam time), oil prices maintained their upward momentum in the context of the IEA and OPEC having a more optimistic view of the demand outlook.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) said that world oil consumption will increase by 1.1 million barrels/day in 2024, an increase of 130,000 barrels/day compared to the previous forecast.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) forecasts the world oil consumption in 2024 to be 2.25 million barrels/day. This is more than double the IEA's forecast.
In the session on December 18 (Vietnam time), the increase in oil prices supported by a Norwegian-owned ship was attacked in the Red Sea.
BP oil company said it has suspended all sea transportation activities. Other shipping companies have also said they will avoid the Suez Canal as the Houthi armed forces in Yemen increase their action on commercial vessels.
Worries about global trade disruptions and tensions in the Middle East continue to help oil prices increase in the next 2 sessions on December 20 and 21 (Vietnam time).
The US has announced the establishment of a special forces to protect trade in the Red Sea from attacks by Iran-backed Houthi forces.
The Houthi forces have said they will defy the US-led naval mission and continue to attack Israeli targets in the region.
Limiting the increase in oil prices in the session is a report from the US Energy Information Administration showing that in the week ended December 15, US oil inventories increased by 2.9 million barrels; gasoline inventories increased by 2.7 million barrels and distillate inventories increased by 1.5 million barrels.
cutting the increase in oil prices in the two weekend sessions on December 22 and 23 (Vietnam time) is the decision of Angola to leave OPEC.
Angola currently produces about 1.1 million barrels/day, while the whole OPEC produces 28 million barrels/day.
Experts say Indonesia's announcement of leaving OPEC+ does not have much impact on global supply, but this could increase market skepticism about the level of compliance with the output cut commitments of other members in the group.
Thus, for the whole week, Brent and WTI oil both increased in price by about 3%, marking the second consecutive week of increase after 7 consecutive weeks of decline.
Domestic retail prices of petroleum on December 24 are specifically as follows: E5 RON 92 gasoline is not more than VND 21,199/liter; RON 95 gasoline is not more than VND 22,145/liter; diesel is not more than VND 19,524/liter; kerosene is not more than VND 20,494/liter; mazut is not more than VND 15,265/kg.
