Oil closes positive, but Brent posts second year of losses

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices closed the last trading of 2024 on a positive note, but the benchmark crude posted annual losses for the second year in a row, amid weak demand from China and rising US crude supplies.

Brent crude futures for March 2025 delivery climbed 0.9%, or 65 cents, to settle at $74.64 a barrel today, Dec. 31. WTI crude futures for February 2025 delivery rose 1%, or 73 cents, to $71.72 a barrel.

At the end of the year, international benchmark Brent crude was down about 3.1% from its final 2023 closing price of $77.04, while WTI crude was roughly flat at last year’s settlement of $71.65.

Total monthly US crude oil production rose to a record 417.2 million barrels in October from 395.9 million barrels in September, the Energy Information Administration data showed.

The American Petroleum Institute's report on oil inventories is expected to be released on Jan. 1, before the official inventory data from the US Energy Information Administration is released on Jan. 2, amid expectations of a 2.4 million barrel drop in crude inventories.