Gasoline prices today (June 14): Mixed prices at the beginning of the session

Rising US oil reserves pushed oil prices to remain mixed early in the session. Brent crude rose to $74.29 a barrel, while WTI fell 26 cents.

World oil prices

According to Reuters , oil prices rose more than 3% at the end of the trading session on June 13. Oil prices were boosted by hopes of increased fuel demand after the People's Bank of China cut short-term lending rates for the first time in 10 months.

The rate cut is aimed at injecting more momentum into the relatively modest post-pandemic recovery of the world's second-largest economy and biggest crude importer.

Oil prices continued to maintain a mixed state at the beginning of the session. Illustration photo: Oilprice

Brent crude futures rose $2.45, or 3.4%, to $74.29 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude also rose $2.30, or 3.4%, to $69.42 a barrel.

Oil prices rose after falling about 4% in the previous session, partly due to concerns about the health of the Chinese economy following disappointing economic data last week. “The market is showing signs of recovery,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group.

Stocks, which often trade in tandem with oil, also rose on June 13. “For market participants to start building long positions again, they may need to see a larger drawdown in inventories,” said UBS strategist Giovanni Staunovo.

Rising global supplies are weighing on the market, Reuters reported, adding to growing concerns about demand growth ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting, which is scheduled to end today (June 14).

Most market participants expect the Fed to keep interest rates unchanged, especially after data showed the US consumer price index (CPI) barely rose in May.

On June 13, the US Department of Labor announced official data showing that the US CPI in May increased by only 0.1%, up 4% compared to the same period last year; the core CPI increased by 0.4%, up 5.3% compared to the same period last year. According to the report, US inflation has cooled to its lowest level in more than 2 years. However, this inflation rate is still higher than the Fed's inflation target.

Given this inflation data, the Fed is likely to keep rates unchanged. Data from the CME Group's FedWatch tool shows that markets are pricing in a 97.6% chance of the Fed leaving rates unchanged. The remaining percentage falls on a 25 basis point rate hike.

Following the Fed's interest rate decision today, the European Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates tomorrow (June 15).

Oil prices still fluctuate strongly in each trading session. Illustration photo: Oilprice

Also on June 13, OPEC kept its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2023 largely unchanged and slightly raised its expectations for China's demand growth. OPEC forecast global oil demand for the year to rise by 2.35 million barrels per day, or 2.4%. That was largely unchanged from last month's forecast of 2.33 million barrels per day. The group forecast China's oil demand to rise by 840,000 barrels per day, up from last month's forecast of 800,000 barrels per day.

On the same day, the American Petroleum Institute (API) released data showing that US crude oil reserves increased by about 1 million barrels in the week ending June 9.