Brent Reaches October Level High

Brent crude futures rose 1.8% to settle at $86.82 per barrel on Monday, the highest since October, building on gains from previous week.

The rise was underpinned by lower crude exports from Iraq and Saudi Arabia, alongside indications of stronger demand and economic growth in both China and the United States.

Iraq announced it would reduce crude exports to 3.3 million bpd in the coming months to compensate for exceeding its OPEC+ quota since January.

Also, Saudi Arabia saw its crude exports decline for the second straight month, falling to 6.297 million bpd in January (vs 6.308 million bpd in December).

On the demand side, China’s factory output and retail sales surpassed expectations in the January-February period.

Last week, IEA raised its global demand outlook for 2024.

Still, heightened geopolitical risks continued to spark supply concerns after Ukraine stepped up drone strikes on Russian oil refineries over the last week, idling 7% of Russian refining capacity in the first quarter