Oil starts off the week where it ended... around $63

By A/S Global Risk Management.

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Updated on 11 Dec 2017 07:58 GMT

After hovering close to $60-61 for a couple of days last week, Brent oil price ended the week a couple of dollars higher on Chinese imports, geopolitical tensions.At time of writing, Brent is around $63.3. Adding to the bullish sentiment was news of high Chinese crude oil imports in November; including import from the U.S. where exports to China was record-breaking. 289,000 barrels per day was exported to the huge oil consuming country. Though still a small volume compared to the 9.01 mio. barrels which China imported in November. Imports to the huge country is up around 12% compared to a year ago. Friday, the weekly oil rig count from Baker Hughes showed an increase in the number of active oil rigs of 2 last week to currently 751, the third increase in a row. Geopolitical risk premium remains elevated after last week's decision by the U.S. to move its embassy in Israel – a row of countries disagree with the decision and some unrest was seen over the weekend in the area. Fears are that the unrest will spread and potentially cause supply disruptions in the oil-rich region. Turning to economic data front, the main potential market mover will likely be the U.S. central bank meeting minutes and interest rate hike (?) on Wednesday, same procedure by Bank of England on Thursday.

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