Oil prices slightly climbed but remained under pressure

West Texas Intermediate futures for December delivery climbed to $44.13 (+0.59%), while Brent crude advanced to $47.32 (+0.28%) after yesterday's declines, but concerns over ample supplies and weak global economic growth continue weighing on prices.

The latest data have shown that China's inflation slowed down to 1.3% y/y in October from 1.6% y/y in September, while the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development cut its global economic growth forecasts to 2.9% from 3% and to 3.3% from 3.6% for 2015 and 2016 respectively.

In an interview published in The National executive director of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol expressed his concerns over declines in investment in the oil sector. He said that "this year oil investment declined by about 20% compared to previous years" and "it is expected to decline by the same amount next year."

Birol also noted a substantial change in China's demand growth outlook. "Energy demand growth and economic growth had been rising in parallel but we expect to see a divorce in those trajectories, mainly because of efficiency improvements in the energy sector and the changing nature of the Chinese economy," he said.