Oil prices were little changed on the day today, as investors digested hints of looming interest rate cuts in the US and Europe.
Brent crude futures were up 0.24%, or 20 cents, at $83.16 a barrel this morning, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.28%, or 22 cents, to $79.15.
WTI had traded over $1 higher than the previous settlement at its intra-day peak earlier in the session.
Oil markets honed in on signals of possible rate cut timings from the US and European Union yesterday and today.
"It looks as if the path of global investors will remain inextricably linked to the language deployed by central bankers in their times of centre stage," PVM analyst John Evans said.
Lower interest rates could increase oil demand by boosting economic growth.
The European Central Bank (ECB) will likely start lowering interest rates some time between April and June, French central bank head and ECB policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said today.
His comments came after ECB chief Christine Lagarde said "We are just beginning to discuss the dialling back of our restrictive stance", at a press conference yesterday, hinting at a June rate cut.
Similarly in the US, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that the central bank was "not far" from gaining enough confidence that inflation is falling sufficiently to begin cutting interest rates.
But potentially adding a ceiling to oil price gains, the International Energy Agency's (IEA) oil markets and industry division head told Reuters the agency sees a relatively well-supplied market in 2024 with demand growth slowing.
"Depending on the pace of oil demand growth going forward, the strength of summer demand, any unexpected outages, we see that the market (is) relatively well supplied this year," Toril Bosoni said.
