2023.02.0709:01:00UTC+00Oil Extends Gains On China Demand Hopes, Supply Woes

Oil prices rose for a second day running on Tuesday amid optimism about demand recovery in China and worries about supply issues resulting from the shutdown of a significant export facility after a powerful earthquake in Turkey.

Benchmark Brent crude futures traded 1.7 percent higher at $82.36 a barrel, while WTI crude futures were up 1.9 percent at $75.48.

As China reopens, analysts expect that energy demand from China will see a significant increase.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), China is likely to account for 50 percent of currently projected global oil demand growth in 2023.

As a result of its zero-COVID policy, China saw a rare drop in gas consumption in 2022.

OPEC also remains optimistic about Chinese oil demand and the global economy this year.

Meanwhile, the two earthquakes that struck Eastern Turkey on Monday impacted crude oil operations worldwide.

The earthquake in Turkey and Syria was the biggest recorded worldwide by the U.S. Geological Survey since a tremor in the remote South Atlantic in August 2021.