MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were holding onto gains in mid-morning trade in Asia Aug. 11, after rising more than 2% overnight, on risk-on sentiment spurred by the passing of a major US infrastructure bill through the Senate and reports of a draw in US crude oil inventories, reported S&P Global.
At 9:46 am Singapore time (0147 GMT), the ICE October Brent futures contract was up 2 cents/b (0.03%) from the previous close at USD70.65/b, while the NYMEX September light sweet crude contract was unchanged over the same period at USD68.29/b.
The risk-on sentiment followed the passing of a USD1.2 trillion infrastructure spending bill by the US Senate overnight, with several US equity indices closing at record highs.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will provide USD550 billion in new government spending to rebuild roads, bridges and other infrastructure in the US, as well as fund climate and clean energy programs.
"The passing of the bipartisan infrastructure bill by the US Senate has led to strength in cyclicals overnight, as the energy, industrials and materials sectors outperformed the broader market," IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong said.
Oil prices were also supported by news of a 816,000-barrel draw in US crude oil inventories reported by the American Petroleum Institute overnight, which exceeded the expectations of analysts surveyed by S&P Global Platts Aug. 9 of a 600,000-barrel draw. Investors will be looking to the Energy Information Administration's weekly report due for release at 10:30 am EST (1430 GMT) Aug. 11 to confirm the draw.
While concerns lingered over the spread of the delta variant, analysts in Asia said this has mostly been priced into the market.
"The rout that stemmed from delta variant concerns has run its course. The oil market is still heavily in deficit," OANDA senior market analyst Edward Moya said.
Nonetheless, COVID-19 caseloads remain high in the world's two largest oil-consuming economies - China and US.
As MRC informed earlier, China's crude oil imports rebounded in July from a six-month low as state-backed refiners ramped up output after returning from maintenance, though independent refineries slowed restocking amid probes by Beijing into trading and taxes.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
MRC