By Florence Tan
SINGAPORE, March 7 (Reuters) - Oil prices edged up after
industry executives flagged concerns about limited spare
capacity in the market and uncertainty over Russian supplies
while demand from top crude importer China is recovering.
Brent crude futures had risen 40 cents, or 0.5%, to
$86.58 a barrel by 0154 GMT after settling 0.4% higher on
Monday.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $80.76 a
barrel, up 30 cents, or 0.4%, following a 1% gain in the
previous session.
Brent prices are on track to rise for the sixth straight
session, the longest stretch of gains since May 2022, buoyed by
hopes of China's demand recovery and as new refining capacity in
Asia and Middle East is being ramped up, processing more crude.
"The supply concerns that helped oil prices higher overnight
likely stemmed from Chevron's CEO comment that there's 'not a
lot of swing capacity' in oil markets," Commonwealth Bank of
Australia analyst Vivek Dhar said in a note.
"The key unknown for 2023 will be the disruption to Russia's
oil and refined product exports."
Chevron Corp chief executive Mike Wirth said ships
carrying Russian crude and products now have to travel over
longer distances to reach non-sanctioned markets while oil
inventories and swing supplies are limited, making the global
market vulnerable to any unexpected supply disruption.
Traders are keenly awaiting China's oil trade data for
January and February later on Monday, looking for signals of
recovery in demand following Beijing's lifting of pandemic
controls late last year.
In the U.S., this week's reports of crude and product
inventories were expected to show decreases for last week, a
preliminary Reuters poll showed on Monday.
The weekly reports from the American Petroleum Institute, an
industry group, are due at 4:30 p.m. ET (2130 GMT) on Tuesday,
and at 10:30 a.m. (1530 GMT) on Wednesday from the Energy
Information Administration.
(Reporting by Florence Tan; Editing by Bradley Perrett)
florence.tan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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