Oil prices rose about 0.25% in Asian markets

Oil prices rose about 0.25% in Asian markets. Photo: Reuters

Specifically, in the Singapore market at 7 hours 53 minutes in Vietnam, Brent North Sea oil prices increased 18 cents US compared with the end of the previous session, or 0.26% to 68.79 dollars per barrel. US light sweet crude rose 16 cents, or 0.25 percent, to $ 63.53 a barrel.

Investors said that US drilling activity was a major factor affecting oil prices in this session. Baker Hughes Energy Services recently reported that US energy companies dropped 5 rigs in the week ended Jan. 19 to 747 rigs.

Still, the number of drilling rigs in 2017 and early 2018 is still much higher as 2016 will bring US crude output up 16 percent from mid-2016 to 9.75 million barrels a day.

In addition, the conflict in the Middle East is also supporting oil prices. Turkish troops on January 20 launched an “olive branch” campaign against the Kurdish People’s Guard (YPG) unit in Afrin, Syria.

Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trading at Singapore-based brokerage Oanda, said the conflict was likely to lead to higher oil prices as the region was positioned. Strategies in oil supply routes.