Muscat: The Oman crude for July delivery was traded at Dubai Mercantile Exchange for $30.05 per barrel, an increase of $1.78 per barrel from Monday price of $28.27.
Globally, oil prices jumped on Tuesday on hopes for a recovery in vehicle traffic and fuel demand as some European and Asian countries along with several US states began to ease coronavirus lockdown measures.
Italy, Spain, Nigeria, and India, together with Ohio and other U.S. states, began allowing some people to go back to work and opened up construction sites, parks and libraries.
Vehicle traffic in most of the United States, including those yet to lift shelter-in-place orders, has also rebounded, RBC Capital Markets research said in a note.
Swiss bank UBS said the easing of restrictions would help lead to a balance in supply and demand for the oil market in the third quarter and even projected an undersupply by the fourth, forecasting an end-2020 recovery of Brent to $43 per barrel and $55/bbl by mid-2021.
“The outlook for this and next year is turning brighter: demand should be supported by a recovering global economy,” UBS commodities analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
Reflecting hopes that the oil industry may have passed the worst of coronavirus-induced lockdowns, hedge funds, and money managers were buyers of petroleum derivatives for a fifth straight week in the week ended April 28.
Still, global oil demand and prices suffered historic losses in April and recovery is likely to be slow with air traffic not expected to rebound any time soon.
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