Will oil prices record the fifth week of gains today?

Oil prices are heading for the fifth consecutive week of gains with more supportive factors and positive data. Whereas, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for August delivery were able to close above $80 per barrel for the first time in three months, in addition to Brent futures, which closed at the level of 83.79. On the other hand, we witnessed some declines this morning, which led the WTI crude oil towards the level of $79.50 a barrel, at the peak of the declines, at 12:35 am GMT.

In economic data, we saw yesterday the GDP figures that grew by 2.4%, which is higher than the expected 1.8%, during the second quarter of this year compared to the second quarter of last year. Also, we have seen positive data from the US labor market, durable and capital goods orders and pending home sales. These figures came following Jerome Powell’s speech after the Federal Open Market Committee’s decision on interest rates, in which he praised the strength of the US economy and talked about the possibility of achieving a soft landing in inflation without pushing the economy towards recession.

As for the Chinese economy, this week we also witnessed a meeting of the executive committee of the ruling party, which brought with it some positive news for the oil markets. Where the Chinese government pledged to provide support to households by subsidizing spending on autos, household goods, tourism and sports. This comes after the recent slowdown in the Chinese economy.

As for the future, the markets are looking forward to the members of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) group regarding the voluntary reduction of oil production on the 4th of August, with expectations that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will carry out further production cuts.