Oil prices are down on Thursday after a strong rise the day before on data on a sharp decline in U.S. inventories.
The value of August Brent futures on London’s ICE Futures Exchange stood at $73.57 a barrel by 8:10 a.m. Thursday, down $0.46 (0.62%) from the previous session’s close. Those contracts rose $1.77 (2.5%) to $74.03 a barrel on Wednesday.
The price of WTI crude futures for August at NYMEX fell by $0.39 (0.56%) to $69.17 per barrel by that time. The day before the stocks went up $1.86 (2.8%) to $69.56 per barrel.
Last week crude inventories in the U.S. fell by 9.6 million barrels to 453.69 million barrels, according to the Energy Department. Experts polled by S&P Global Commodity Insights had on average forecast a less significant decline of 4.8 million barrels.
“The decline in U.S. inventories is largely due to an increase in oil exports,” said DTN chief analyst Troy Vincent, quoted by Market Watch. – This is occurring despite a decline in U.S. refinery activity.”
Stocks at the terminal in Cushing, which stores crude oil traded on the NYMEX, increased over the past week by 1.21 million barrels, according to the Energy Department.
The oil market ended the second quarter of 2023 in the negative due to the slower-than-expected recovery of the Chinese economy, as well as fears of recession in the U.S. and Europe amid a tightening of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.
Fed Chief Jerome Powell said at the ECB forum in Sintra on Wednesday that most U.S. central bank leaders see the possibility of at least two more hikes in the prime rate.
Some 94% of Ukrainians consider Poland a friendly country, 86% consider the United States friendly, 85% – the UK, 80% – Germany, 40% – Turkey, and 5% – China, according to a poll by the Rating sociological group in cooperation with public organization Transatlantic Dialogue Center.
At the same time, 2% of Ukrainians consider Poland a neutral country, 7% consider the United States neutral, 6% the UK, 14% Germany, 48% Turkey, and 52% China.
In addition, 1% of Ukrainians consider Poland to be an enemy country, 2% consider the United States to be an enemy, 1% – the UK, 2% – Germany, 4% – Turkey, and 34% – China.
The attitude towards Germany among Ukrainians has improved, as the percentage of assessment of its friendly country has increased from 65% last year to 80% this year.
“The attitude of Ukrainians towards China and Turkey is deteriorating in dynamics. If in October last year, China was considered rather a neutral country (63%), this assessment changed to a more neutral-negative one: 34% rated it as a hostile country, 52% as neutral. As for Turkey, its assessment as a neutral country has increased: 48% consider it neutral, 40% – friendly, while last year its assessment as a friendly country (51%) was more than neutral (39%),” the sociological group said.
The survey was conducted on June 1-2, 2023 among citizens aged 18 years and older in all regions, except for the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas, as well as territories where there is no Ukrainian mobile communication at the time of the survey. The sample is representative in terms of age, gender, and type of settlement. The sample was 1,000 respondents. The survey method is computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). The error is no more than 3.1%.
Ukraine has enough potential to increase its GDP to $1 trillion, President Vladimir Zelensky said.
“The specific goal for Ukraine’s GDP is $1 trillion… This is a very, very, very high bar, and it looks seemingly unrealistic, but Ukraine’s potential is capable of providing it,” he said, speaking at the Verkhovna Rada on Wednesday.
Zelensky also set a goal of significantly increasing wages for Ukrainians.
“Victory Ukraine will give up the idea that labor of Ukrainians and Ukrainian women should be cheap. Because supposedly the cheapness of our people’s labor was Ukraine’s competitive advantage. Our goal is to reach a level of wages that can be determined by the formula: “neighbors in the European Union +30%.” This is the goal, a fair goal for this war,” said the President.
At the same time, he advocated updating labor laws and a new rational tax treaty between the state and society after the war is over.
As reported, the goal of increasing Ukraine’s nominal dollar GDP by 6.2 times in 10 years – from $161 billion in 2022 to $1 trillion – was announced by First Deputy Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko at a conference on Ukraine’s reconstruction in London last week. In the prewar year of 2021, Ukraine’s GDP exceeded $200 billion.
A two-day EU summit will open Thursday in Brussels.
“We will reaffirm even more decisively our commitment to support Ukraine for as long as it takes, including through sustained financial and military assistance. We must also discuss how to further strengthen international support for the Ukrainian peace formula,” European Council President Charles Michel wrote in an invitation letter to EU heads of state and government for the European summit.
The meeting of the European Council may also touch upon the latest developments in Russia in connection with the discussion of Ukraine. This issue was not raised during preparations for the summit, so there are “high expectations” from its consideration, a high-ranking EU official who commented on the agenda on condition of anonymity on the eve of the meeting told reporters.
At the same time, the source said the EU will continue to work on how to use frozen Russian assets to help rebuild Ukraine. However, he stressed, it is a complex and ambiguous issue.
“There will be a debate. I don’t know what the outcome will be. In any case, the topic is very controversial, very technical, and there are a whole series of side effects,” the EU functionary continued.
He said tackling it requires caution and coordination with G7 countries because “it seems simple, but there are a number of consequences.”
“We can’t do whatever we want. You can’t take (other people’s) money and put it in your wallet. We abide by the principles of the rule of law. When assets are frozen, you have to be able to get them back as soon as the incriminating behavior stops. So you have to be able to get that money back: the whole asset and the interest on it,” explained the senior source.
“That’s why it’s difficult,” he said, adding that such sanctions are a signal to everyone, including investors, and some investors will wonder what could happen to their funds if they get on the sanctions list. “So you have to think about the side effects of these measures,” the journalist’s interlocutor said.
The European official pointed to the legal complexities of the problem, explaining that an ill-considered decision could be made and then lawsuits would follow, and that would defeat the purpose sought.
Michel, in his message to EU leaders, also said: “Our meeting will be preceded by a lunch with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, with whom we can exchange views on global and European security.”
The president of the European Council recalled that in Versailles in 2022, the leaders of the EU member states “decided to take on greater responsibility for European security and defense.” Now, he said, “it is time to assess what we have achieved and to discuss how to speed up our work in order to meet our commitments.”
The European Council meeting will include an exchange of views on the economic situation of the union. “I would like us to assess progress in improving our competitiveness, strengthening our economic base and enhancing our economic security and sustainability, reflecting on further actions that may be needed,” Michel wrote in an invitation letter.
EU leaders will address the migration situation. Mentioning the recent tragic migrant shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea, the president of the European Council called it “a stark reminder that we must continue to work tirelessly to solve the European migration problem.”
EU heads of state and government will once again turn their attention to the PRC. “Regarding China, we will give further guidance after our debate in October and the debate held by the foreign ministers in May. This will be an opportunity to reaffirm our unified position on China,” Michel noted.
He listed a number of other foreign policy issues that he believes deserve the attention of the European Union’s top leadership. These include the upcoming European Union-Latin America and Caribbean Community summit, EU relations with partners in the southern neighborhood and developments in the Western Balkans.
Residents of Kherson region affected by the flooding due to the explosion at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant can receive financial aid from the state, regional and local budgets, as well as from international organizations, said the head of the regional military administration Alexander Prokudin on Wednesday evening.
“The size of payments from the state – 5 thousand UAH for each family member, from the regional budget – 5 thousand UAH per household. From local budgets – from 1 thousand to 15 thousand UAH per household. In Kherson itself also pay 5 thousand UAH”, – he informed in his Telegram channel.
According to Prokudin, the residents of the region also have the opportunity to apply to international organizations, which pay 6,600 UAH for each family member.
To formalize the relevant payments residents of Kherson and the region need to apply to the social protection agencies of their communities, he said.
“During a visit to the department, a person writes an application for all types of assistance at once, and specialists form the appropriate cases. More than half a thousand people have already applied and already next week they should receive money,” specified Prokudin.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has allocated more than 980 million UAH for compensation for damaged and destroyed homes due to the Russian occupants blowing up the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power plant in the Kherson region, as well as 560 million UAH to pay one-time state aid to flood victims, Prime Minister Denis Shmygal said.
“The compensation mechanism will be similar to the program “eRecovery”. But, given the situation in the region, the application will be made through local authorities. A person will choose one of two options. Either buy another home, or take the money to repair or rebuild their own house on their own,” Shmygal said at a government retreat in the Kherson region on Friday.
After the victory, Ukraine will become the largest builder and construction site in Europe, with hundreds of towns and villages in need of restoration, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
“After the victory, Ukraine will become the largest builder and construction site in Europe. We need to rebuild hundreds of cities and villages, thousands of infrastructure facilities, hundreds of thousands of homes. This will give a boost to the economy,” Zelenskyy said in a speech at the Verkhovna Rada plenary session on Wednesday.
The President also emphasized the importance of preserving cultural and historical space in cities.
