Oil climbs after US Fed maintains rates

Oil drilling rigs

Oil prices rose today, Feb. 1, after the US Federal Reserve decided on Jan. 31 to fix interest rates for the fifth time since the start of the monetary tightening cycle. hairman Jerome Powell also indicated the possibility of starting to reduce interest rates.

Brent crude was trading up 0.15% at $80.67 a barrel, at 09:07 am Makkah time. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for March delivery rose 0.20% to $76 per barrel.

"The immediate reason for an oil rebound is likely the market's expectations for rate cuts this year after Fed's Powell indicated 'a peak of the rate hiking cycle' in his speech," CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng said, according to a Reuters report.

On the other hand, JP Morgan analysts explained in a note that they expect China to remain the largest and only contributor to the growth of global oil demand this year. Demand is expected to grow at a rate of 530,000 barrels per day in 2024, after rising to 1.2 million barrels per day last year.