Oil prices today, August 12, the conflict in the Gaza Strip has shown no signs of cooling down, raising concerns about supply, supporting oil prices to extend last week's increase into the first trading session of this week. (Source: Oilprice)

Last week, oil prices officially recorded their first weekly increase in five weeks, ending a four-week losing streak. In five trading sessions, oil prices fell one session and rose four consecutive sessions. Despite increasing more than 3.5% during the week, Brent crude has yet to regain the $80/barrel mark. Meanwhile, WTI crude rose more than 4% to $76.84/barrel.

Oil prices have made a comeback due to many factors, including continued decline in US oil inventories, increased risk of conflict in the Middle East, and a decline in the USD index.

Last week, data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that US oil inventories fell for the sixth consecutive week (down 3.7 million barrels). The agency also estimated that global oil inventories fell by about 400,000 barrels per day in the first half of this year and will fall by about 800,000 barrels per day in the second half.

Notably, data on the number of US unemployment claims falling further strengthens the possibility that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut interest rates in September.

Also supporting the rise in oil prices was the announcement by Libya’s National Oil Corporation to gradually reduce production at the Sharara oilfield due to protests. Oil prices also rose after data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed that China’s consumer price index rose 0.5% in July from a year earlier.

This week, economic data that could impact oil price fluctuations include the US producer price index (PPI), consumer price index (CPI) for July, and especially the results of the University of Michigan's survey on US consumer sentiment in August.

Domestic retail prices of gasoline on August 12 are as follows:

The above domestic retail price of gasoline was adjusted by the Ministry of Finance - Industry and Trade at the price management session on the afternoon of August 8.

Due to the sharp drop in world oil prices, domestic oil prices have also dropped sharply, marking the fifth consecutive drop.

RON 95-III gasoline decreased the most, by 930 VND/liter, followed by E5 RON 92 gasoline, down 901 VND/liter. Fuel oil price decreased by 858 VND/kg, diesel oil decreased by 737 VND/liter, and kerosene decreased by 684 VND/liter.