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<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107301361-1694772546411-gettyimages-1645429909-01-dji_fly_20230819_001040_826_1692423298462_photo-_sbqq89ar-820x462.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-427512" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107301361-1694772546411-gettyimages-1645429909-01-dji_fly_20230819_001040_826_1692423298462_photo-_sbqq89ar-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107301361-1694772546411-gettyimages-1645429909-01-dji_fly_20230819_001040_826_1692423298462_photo-_sbqq89ar-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107301361-1694772546411-gettyimages-1645429909-01-dji_fly_20230819_001040_826_1692423298462_photo-_sbqq89ar-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107301361-1694772546411-gettyimages-1645429909-01-dji_fly_20230819_001040_826_1692423298462_photo-_sbqq89ar-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/107301361-1694772546411-gettyimages-1645429909-01-dji_fly_20230819_001040_826_1692423298462_photo-_sbqq89ar.jpeg 929w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">In an aerial view, oil storage tanks are shown at the Enterprise Sealy Station on August 28, 2023 in Sealy, Texas.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images News | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Oil prices surged to their highest level in over a year during Asian trading hours, after crude stocks at a key storage hub fell to their lowest since July last year.



Crude inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma fell to 22 million barrels in the fourth week of September — hovering close to the operational minimum, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). That’s a drop of 943,000 barrels compared to the prior week.



The U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures touched $95.03 per barrel during Asia trading hours, marking the highest since August 2022. It was last trading at $94.61 per barrel. Global benchmark Brent rose 1.05% to $97.56 a barrel.



“Today’s price action seems to be Cushing driven, as it reaches a 22 million bbl low, the lowest level since July 2022,” Bart Melek, managing director of TD Securities, told CNBC.



If the inventories continue to dip below those levels, it’s going to be “rough” getting crude out into the market, Melek said on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia.”



He forecasts that oil prices will continue to remain at “high level” for the rest of the year, with an upside risk if global oil cartel OPEC+ continues to keep supplies tight.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-robust-deficit-in-sights"><a></a>‘Robust deficit’ in sights</h2>



The global oil markets are looking at a “pretty robust deficit” on top of an already significant shortfall this quarter, Malek said, citing the oil production cuts implemented by OPEC and its allies.



In September, OPEC+ kingpin Saudi Arabia&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/05/saudi-arabia-to-extend-voluntary-cut-of-1-million-barrels-per-day-until-the-end-of-the-year.html">extended its 1 million barrel per day voluntary crude oil production cut</a>&nbsp;until the end of the year. It brings Saudi’s crude output to near 9 million barrels per day.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
We do think that prices could keep up near these levels for quite some time. But I don’t think it’s too permanent. And we might have seen the end of this rally.
<cite>Bart Melek MANAGING DIRECTOR, TD SECURITIES</cite></blockquote>



Additionally, Russia has pledged to extend its 300,000 barrels per day export reduction until the end of December.



Malek also highlighted how refinery throughputs will see a decline in the coming months as refinery maintenance season approaches. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/refinery-crude-throughput" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">refinery crude throughput</a>&nbsp;refers to the volume of crude oil a refinery can produce during a given period of time.



“We do think that prices could keep up near these levels for quite some time. But I don’t think it’s too permanent. And we might have seen the end of this rally.”



It will not be in OPEC’s interest if prices go a lot higher to triple digits, as they will be worried about long term demand destruction, Malek pointed out.



“We do think they will ultimately signal, as we get closer to the end of the year, that they may be very well done with these strong measures to limit supply,” he projected.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/styles/skin/special-reports/cnbci_promo/images/telegram_24.png" alt=""/></figure>



Get more from CNBC. Breaking news and updates on&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/cnbci" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Telegram</a>.



<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/20/goldman-raises-international-oil-price-forecast-to-100-a-barrel.html">Forecasts</a><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/15/oil-to-hit-100-analysts-expect-a-return-to-triple-digits-before-2024.html">&nbsp;</a><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/20/goldman-raises-international-oil-price-forecast-to-100-a-barrel.html">for $100 per barrel oil</a>&nbsp;have been swirling on the horizon in recent days.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/20/goldman-raises-international-oil-price-forecast-to-100-a-barrel.html">Goldman Sachs recently raised</a>&nbsp;its 12-month Brent forecast from $93 per barrel to $100 on the back of “modestly sharper inventory draws,” the investment bank wrote in a recent note dated September 20.



“Overall, we believe that OPEC will be able to sustain Brent in an $80 to $105 range in 2024,” the Goldman report added, citing strong demand growth from the Asia region.
</blockquote>

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Meta’s Threads real-time messaging app is struggling to attract new users like it did during its blockbuster July debut.



The Twitter clone now ranks near the bottom of the most popular social media platforms, ahead of only Tumblr, as measured by the number of U.S. users, according to Insider Intelligence’s first Threads forecast, published Tuesday.



Insider Intelligence said it expects Threads to have 23.7 million U.S. users in 2023, far behind Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, which have 177.9 million, 135.2 million and 102.3 million users, respectively. Its closest rival, X, will have 56.1 million U.S. users in 2023, the forecast said, which means that Threads will have less than half of the U.S. user base of the messaging app formerly known as Twitter.



For the U.S. market, the analyst firm said Threads will continue to “rank second-to-last among social networks” through 2025.



Meta did not respond to a request for comment.



The new forecast joins a growing list of third-party estimates from mobile analytics firms such as Sensor Tower and Similarweb that have recently documented declining usage of Threads.



When Threads debuted, it rapidly gained millions of users due in part to its easy sign-up process for existing Instagram users. The messaging app also benefited by being a mainstream alternative to X, which several analyst firms including Insider Intelligence have said is losing users amid the ownership of Tesla chief Elon Musk.



“Threads received an initial boost from Twitter’s missteps, but it can’t rely on X defectors to continue to grow,” Insider Intelligence principal analyst Jasmine Enberg said in a statement.



If Musk decides to charge all X users a monthly subscription fee, as he said during a recently livestreamed talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Meta could have a “clearer avenue to monetize Threads,” Enberg said.



“Assuming Musk doesn’t backtrack, the move will likely alienate more X users and potentially increase advertiser interest in Threads,” Enberg added.



Still, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously said that the company has no plans to monetize Threads until it’s bigger and more established.



The social networking giant has been releasing several new features for Threads intended to make it more compelling, such as a desktop version and a search tool. Indeed, both advertisers and creators have previously told CNBC that Threads needs certain features such as analytics tools to become a more robust platform that they will invest time and money into.



Enberg said Threads needs to establish an identity that’s “more than an extension of Instagram or an alternative to X” in order to become a major player in the social media market.



“TikTok was able to break through largely because it offered users a unique new social experience,” Enberg said, referring to the ByteDance-owned short-video app’s rise to prominence.

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President Joe Biden will address the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, where he plans to promote democracy and advocate for increased support for Ukraine.



For Biden, it’s another opportunity to advance the ideas of diplomacy and democracy against those of aggressive autocracies, as he did at the recent Group of 20 summit earlier this month.



″[Biden] will lay out for the world the steps that he and his administration have taken to advance a vision of American leadership that is built on the premise of working with others to solve the world’s most pressing problems,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a briefing Friday.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-biden-s-meetings-speech"><a></a>Biden’s meetings, speech</h2>



Leaders from at least 145 countries are slated to attend with a few notable exceptions: France, the United Kingdom, China and Russia will all be absent, meaning four of the five countries that hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council will not be in attendance.



The absence of China and Russia gives Biden an opening to advance ties between the United States and smaller, developing nations.



Biden is slated to meet Wednesday with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, a key leader in the Global South who has also been a proponent of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Lula has argued the U.S. and other Western nations are prolonging the war with their defense support.



The president will also meet with the leaders of the five central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, marking the first time a U.S. president has done so jointly. He will also meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the  first time the pair have met since the prime minister won reelection last fall.



This will be the first time Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has attended the U.N. summit in person since the war began in February 2022. He gave a prerecorded speech to the body at last year’s session.



“President Biden looks forward to hearing President Zelenskyy’s perspective on all of this and to reaffirm for the world and for the United States, for the American people, his commitment to continuing to lead the world in supporting Ukraine,” Sullivan said.



A “substantial section” of Biden’s speech will be devoted to the war in Ukraine, Sullivan said.



“He will talk about the fundamental fact that the United Nations Charter &#8230; speaks to the basic proposition that countries cannot attack their neighbors and steal their territory by force,” Sullivan said, referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “That was also a proposition that was at the core of the G20 statement last weekend.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>U.S. support for Ukraine</h2>



Biden’s message of support for Ukraine is complicated by the fact that a handful of hard-line Republicans in Congress are actively opposing more funding.



The White House is seeking $24 billion in additional aid to Ukraine, which it hoped would be passed alongside a continuing resolution to keep the government open while budget negotiations continue. The measure has bipartisan support in the Senate but is held up in the House of Representatives, where some members, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., have said they will not support any additional aid.



GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is in a precarious position on the issue of Ukraine as his slim majority places him at the whims of every member of his caucus. Conservatives balked at McCarthy’s proposal last week to pair Ukraine aid with additional border funding.



Zelenskyy will travel to Washington, D.C., on Thursday to meet with Biden at the White House and speak with lawmakers. Unlike his visit in December, Zelenskyy will not address a joint session of Congress. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, the chair of the House intelligence committee, said Zelenskyy will be “very, very persuasive.”



“Zelenskyy is a great spokesperson,” Turner said on CBS News on Sunday. “He really makes the case better than anyone.”



It’s a position the White House agrees with.



“He has proven over the course of the past 18, 19 months, that there is no better advocate for his country, for his people, and for the urgent and continuing need for countries like the United States and our allies and partners to step up to provide the necessary tools and resources that Ukraine needs,” Sullivan said.

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