Oil on the rise

Oil prices rose after two days of declines overshadowed by concerns about a possible Iranian attack on Israel. Brent crude traded around $80 a barrel after falling 3.1 percent in the previous two sessions, while U.S. crude was above $77. Tensions are building over what form an attack could take, two weeks after Iran vowed to retaliate for the killing of a top Hamas leader on its territory. Official data on Wednesday showed U.S. crude inventories rose by a surprise 1.36 million barrels last week. Crude oil has retreated from its recent peak in early July, weighed down by a negative outlook for consumption in China, as gasoline demand has slowed as the use of cleaner fuels has increased. Government data on Thursday showed the country’s apparent demand for oil fell 8 percent in July from a year earlier. “The data is not looking good. It just reinforces the demand concerns that have been going on in the market for a while now, and with China expected to account for almost 60% of global demand growth this year, those concerns are unlikely to go away anytime soon,” said Warren Patterson, head of commodity strategy at ING NV in Singapore. Those concerns led OPEC to cut its global demand forecast for 2024 in its monthly report earlier this week, while International Energy Agency data showed the market would be in surplus next quarter if the cartel presses ahead with its plan to restore supply.