Crude oil closes: tight supply and demand growth boost Crude oil futures closed higher

News on June 22, the high demand for fuel in the summer in the United States, but the still tight supply caused by sanctions against Russia continued to support oil prices, and crude oil futures rebounded slightly from last week's sharp downward trend to close higher
.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures due July rose $1.
09, or 1 percent
, to settle at $110.
65 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
August WTI crude, the most actively traded and now a front-month contract, rose $1.
53, or 1.
4%,
to settle at $109.
52 a barrel.
WTI crude fell more than 9 percent last week, ending a seven-week winning streak
.
August Brent crude futures on the Intercontinental Exchange of Europe rose 52 cents, or 0.
5 percent
, to $114.
65 a barrel.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, gasoline prices rose less than 1 cent to $3.
7945 a gallon in July, and heating oil rose 0.
4 percent to $
4.
3584 a gallon in July.
July natural gas futures fell 2% to $
6.
808 per million British calories.

Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, said in a note Tuesday afternoon that "the oil market remains too tight in the short term, and rising expectations of tougher sanctions on Russian crude should make demand here particularly strong
.
" ”

Crude traded near a three-month high last week before retreating as interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve and other central banks sparked fears that the U.
S.
economy could slip into recession and triggered a sharp sell-off
in stocks and other assets.
However, U.
S.
stocks rebounded on Tuesday, with U.
S.
stocks rising
sharply.

Data released on Monday showed that China sharply increased its crude imports from Russia in May, which was positive for crude prices
.
Earlier, the European Union moved to ban the import of crude oil from Russian seas as the
West continued to tighten sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Warren Patterson, head of commodity strategy at ING, said in a note that data showed that China's crude imports from Russia reached a record 2.
06 million barrels per day in May, about 18 percent
of China's total oil imports.
This is up from 1.
33 million barrels per day in May 2021, or 13%
of total imports.

"Obviously, the deep discount on Russian crude is too attractive to Chinese buyers
.
Theoretically, the more Russian oil we see flowing to countries like China and India, the easier it will be for global markets to respond to the EU's ban on seaborne imports of crude from Russia," Patterson wrote
.
Meanwhile, the Indian government is asking state-owned oil companies to buy large quantities of cheap oil
from Russia, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

But bearish analysts said signs of rising U.
S.
crude production could signal further weakening
in crude prices.
Friday's data showed that the number of oil rigs in the United States increased by seven to 740 last week, while the Biden administration is expected to begin replenishing strategic reserves in September, which is good news for producers, who can get a steady buyer from the government that may prevent an uncontrollable drop in
oil prices.

"In the coming weeks, with unexpected negative news in the global economy and a stock market crash, we should be prepared
for a pullback to $100 or even $90 a barrel.
However, for the rest of the year and much of the future, Brent crude oil prices are likely to remain mainly in the $90-120 range
.

The U.
S.
Energy Information Administration will release weekly oil supply data on Thursday, which is a day
later than usual because Monday is a holiday.