Oil prices rise on unexpected shocks

as declared in The price for Brent crude oil was up 1.68 percent as of 9:20 a.m. EDT to $79.38 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark for the price of oil, was up 0.85 percent to $74.48 per barrel. The price of oil will be influenced later in the morning when the U.S. Energy Information Administration publishes its latest monthly forecast. EIA in its last report raised its forecast for the price of Brent crude oil. A survey from S&P Global Platts revealed an expected drain of 4.8 million barrels of oil from the U.S. market last week, which would be further supportive of oil prices if it's accurate.

Oil prices face inventory, spare capacity test

July 5 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices were relatively flat before the opening bell in New York, though concerns about the lack of buffers could push indices higher Thursday. Oil prices were flat ahead of the start of trading. The price for Brent crude oil, the global benchmark for the price of oil, was down 0.09 percent to $78.17 per barrel as of 9:23 a.m. EDT. The movement followed a warning Wednesday from the World Trade Organization about restrictive trade measures enacted by the world's leading economies. In the United States, U.S. tariffs on imported steel could create headwinds for the oil sector because of the lack of domestic pipeline producers.

Oil prices rise, but post sharp weekly loss amid expectations for rising Libyan output

as declared in August West Texas Intermediate crude CLQ8+0.36% the U.S. benchmark, tacked on 68 cents, or 1%, to settle at $71.01 a barrel. Prices also briefly hit lows Thursday under $70 a barrel for the first time in over two weeks. Some analysts point out that any extra Libyan supply could be mitigated by ongoing outages in other countries and an expected eventual sharp drop in Iranian oil exports following the reintroduction of U.S. sanctions. The Saudis pumping more oil along with Russia, and possible exemptions on U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil leading to less oil off the markets later in the year "could halt the recent rise we have seen in spot prices," said Zahir. August heating oil HOQ8+0.25% added 0.5% to $2.133 a gallon, for a weekly loss of around 1.6%.

collected by :Frank Ithan