Crude oil rebounded, with mixed reactions from China, Japan and South Korea to U.S. calls to release inventories

News on November 18: On Thursday (November 18), international crude oil futures first fell and then rose, closing up
.
Prices fell to six-week lows in early trading on media reports that China planned to use strategic reserves to stabilize oil prices
.
However, investors want to know more details about the release of strategic crude reserves by other major economies and the extent to which this can ease the pressure
on global supply constraints.

The January West Texas Intermediate (WTI) contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) closed up $0.
65, or 0.
8 percent, at $79.
01 a barrel, having fallen to $77.
08 in early trading, also the lowest since
early October.

Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, for January crude rose $0.
96, or 1.
2 percent, to close at $81.
24 a barrel
.
It fell as high as $79.
28 in early trading, the lowest since
Oct.
7.

On Wednesday (November 17), media reported that the United States called on China, Japan and South Korea and other countries to coordinate action and dump strategic stocks to reduce oil prices
.

On Thursday (November 18), a spokesman for China's National Food and Material Reserve Administration told Western media that China is preparing for the release of strategic crude oil reserves
.
China, the world's largest crude importer, auctioned off its national crude reserves to some domestic refineries for the first time in September in an effort to stabilize energy prices
.
About 7.
38 million barrels of crude oil were put in at that time, mainly from the Middle East
.

Crude oil prices have risen by about 60 percent this year, fueling higher consumer prices
.
Data released last week showed that the U.
S.
consumer price index rose 6.
2 percent in 12 months, the fastest increase in 31 years, prompting U.
S.
President Joe Biden's administration to consider using strategic inventories to weigh on oil prices
.
The two heads of state also discussed the issue
at the U.
S.
-China summit earlier this week.
The U.
S
.
also called on Japan and South Korea to join in releasing crude oil inventories.

But Japan and South Korea have said they are not interested in releasing strategic reserves, which has helped oil prices stop falling and rebound
.

Ministry of Industry officials said the United States had asked Japan to join forces to deal with rising
oil prices.
But under Japanese law, Japan's strategic crude oil reserves cannot be used to lower prices
.

A South Korean official said the administration was reviewing U.
S.
requests for South Korea to release some of its crude reserves, but added that South Korea could only release crude oil
if there was an imbalance in supply.

Some analysts believe that depressing oil prices by releasing crude reserves can only be temporary, and that solving high prices still requires OPEC and allies, as well as U.
S.
shale merchants, to increase production
.

Both the International Energy Agency and OPEC said more crude oil will be supplied in the coming months, which could turn into a glut
in the first quarter of next year.
The resurgence of the pandemic in Europe, once again at the epicenter of the pandemic, has also raised some concerns about the demand outlook
.