SINGAPORE: Oil prices hovered near four-month lows in Asia on Wednesday as markets digested an OPEC+ decision to boost supply later this year and following an increase in US crude and refined products stocks, according to Reuters.

Brent crude futures were up 1 cent at $77.53 a barrel by 9:38 a.m. Saudi time, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 2 cents at $73.23 a barrel.

Both contracts fell nearly a dollar on Tuesday to their lowest settlement levels since early February, and had declined around $3 a barrel on Monday.

The slide followed news from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies of plans to increase supply from October despite recent signs of weakening demand growth.

“Brent remains under pressure as a corner of the market continues to view OPEC’s proposed taper timeline for the voluntary cuts as a binding commitment to increase by 500,000 barrels per day in Q4 2024 irrespective of the fundamental oil outlook or sentiment come summer’s end,” RBC Capital’s head of commodities research, Helima Croft, said in a market note.

However, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, has said OPEC+ would pause the unwinding of the cuts or reverse them if demand wasn’t strong enough to absorb the barrels.

“The intention has always been to slow roll the barrels back in and not to send the market into a tailspin with a supply surge,” Croft noted.

ING analysts led by Warren Patterson said crude oil supply is expected to tighten in the third quarter and that OPEC+’s plans to unwind supply cuts will take place only from October.

“Therefore, we believe the scale of the sell-off at the front end of the forward curve is overdone,” they added in a market note.

In the US, crude oil, gasoline and distillate stocks rose last week, according to sources citing American Petroleum Institute figures.

API figures showed crude stocks increased more than 4 million barrels in the week ended May 31, against analysts’ forecasts in a Reuters poll for a 2.3 million-barrel decline.

Independent energy analyst Tim Evans wrote that the crude figures in the API report “represents a clear bearish surprise.”

Gasoline stocks rose by more than 4 million barrels, twice the build expected by analysts.

The US Energy Information Administration will publish official stockpiles data on Wednesday at 1430 GMT.

Data for last week is being closely watched by markets because it reflects fuel usage around the Memorial Day holiday, the start of the so-called US driving season. 

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has priced its inaugural sterling bond offering of £650 million ($829.80 million) under its existing Euro Medium-Term Note program.

The issuance is part of PIF’s strategy to continually diversify its funding sources. 

The offering, which was more than six times oversubscribed, includes a £300 million tranche with a 5-year coupon and a £350 million tranche with a 15-year coupon. 

Loans and debt instruments are one of PIF’s four primary funding sources, alongside retained earnings from investments, capital injections from the government, and government assets transferred to the wealth fund.

PIF holds an A1 rating with a positive outlook from Moody’s and an A+ rating with a stable outlook from Fitch.

In January, the sovereign wealth fund completed the pricing of a bond offering worth $5 billion. 

According to a statement, the offering was over five times oversubscribed, with order books reaching $27 billion. 

The offering in January was divided into three tranches – one valued at $1.75bn with a 5-year coupon maturing in 2029, another for the same amount with a 10-year coupon, and the final was valued at $1.5bn over a 30-year period.

In April, BlackRock Saudi Arabia and PIF signed a memorandum of understanding which entitled the former to establish a Riyadh-based multi-asset investment platform.

The platform will be anchored by an initial investment mandate of up to $5 billion from PIF, subject to the achievement of agreed milestones between the parties, the fund said in a statement. 

In the same month, a report by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute said that PIF has climbed to fifth in a ranking of state-owned investment organizations, with its assets under management reaching $861 billion. 

The analysis added that the wealth fund is marching toward its end-2025 target of $1 trillion in assets, aimed at diversifying the Kingdom’s economy. 

In May, a report released by UK-based Brand Finance revealed that PIF is the world’s most valuable sovereign wealth fund, with a brand value of $1.1 billion. 

According to the strategic consultancy firm, the fund garnered the top spot in the list due to its diverse investment strategy, trust in its name, and brand awareness, as well as its role as a catalyst for economic advancement in Saudi Arabia.