Gasoline price today (April 15): Slight increase

World oil prices

Oil prices rose slightly in trading on April 14 after a Western energy watchdog said global demand would hit a record high this year as Chinese consumption recovered.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) also warned that the deep production cuts announced by OPEC+ could worsen the oil supply deficit and hurt consumers.

Brent crude for June delivery rose 22 cents, or 0.3%, to $86.31 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 36 cents, or 0.4%, to $82.52 a barrel.

Both oil benchmarks posted their fourth straight weekly gain amid easing concerns over last month’s banking crisis and last week’s surprise decision by OPEC+ to extend production cuts.

Brent crude rose 1.5% this week, while WTI crude rose 2.4%. With four consecutive weeks of gains, this is the longest streak of oil prices since June last year.

On April 14, in its monthly report, the IEA said world oil demand will increase by 2 million barrels per day in 2023 to a record 101.9 million barrels per day, mainly due to stronger consumption from China after the East Asian country lifted Covid-19 restrictions.

Previously, OPEC on April 13 warned of a decrease in oil demand in the summer to explain OPEC+'s decision to cut production by an additional 1.16 million barrels per day.

The IEA said the OPEC+ decision could hurt consumers and the global economic recovery.

Consumers facing rising prices for basic necessities will have to allocate their budgets, which is a bad sign for economic recovery and growth, according to the IEA.

The IEA expects global oil supplies to fall by 400,000 barrels per day by the end of this year.

“The story once again confirms rising demand and relatively tight supplies, which is what is keeping oil prices up,” said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC.

Also supporting the rally was a third straight weekly decline in the number of U.S. oil and gas rigs, an indicator of future supply. U.S. oil rigs fell by two to 588 this week, the lowest since June 2022, while gas rigs fell by one to 157, Baker Hughes data showed.

According to Reuters , limiting the increase in oil prices is the increase in the value of the US dollar.