Oil prices continue to decline Wednesday after hitting lows over the past month the day before.
July Brent futures on London’s ICE Futures Exchange stood at $73.35 a barrel by 8:05 a.m. Wednesday, down $0.19 (0.26%) from the previous session’s close. Those contracts fell $3.53 (4.6%) to $73.54 a barrel on Tuesday.
July WTI futures on NYMEX fell by $0.24 (0.35%) to $69.22 per barrel by that time. The contracts fell by $3.21 (4.4%) to $69.46 a barrel at the end of the last session.
According to Dow Jones Market Data, both grades closed the previous day at their lowest level since May 4.
Traders’ attention is still directed to the situation with the U.S. debt ceiling. On Wednesday, it’s expected to vote in the House of Representatives on the draft agreement reached by President Joe Biden and the Speaker of the Lower House of Congress, Republican Kevin McCarthy, after which the document will go to the Senate.
In addition, the market is assessing macroeconomic data from China. The published May official value of purchasing managers index (PMI) in the processing industry didn’t justify the 49.4 points forecast of analysts, having decreased to the minimum for five months of 48.8 points from 49.2 points in April.
The weak statistics strengthened fears of a slowdown in economic growth in China, the world’s top oil importer, Trading Economics said.
Oil prices are rising Monday morning amid optimism about an increase in the U.S. national debt ceiling.
July Brent futures on London’s ICE Futures exchange stood at $77.53 a barrel by 8:14 a.m., up $0.58 (0.75%) from the previous session’s close. Last Friday those contracts rose $0.69 (0.9%) to $76.95 a barrel.
July WTI futures traded on NYMEX rose by $0.65, to $73.32 per barrel. The contract value grew by $0.84 (1.2%) to $72.68 per barrel at the end of previous session.
Brent contract grew 1.8% and WTI gained 1.4% at the end of the previous week.
Over the weekend, US President Joe Biden said he had reached a budget agreement with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. According to him, this prevents “the worst possible crisis,” that is, the possibility of a default on U.S. government debt.
Negotiators are finalizing the text of the bill, which will then go to the House and Senate.
It is expected that trading volume on Monday may be lower than usual due to the fact that the USA and UK stock exchanges are closed in connection with the public holidays.
Meanwhile, the number of active oil rigs in the United States fell by five last week to 570, oilfield services company Baker Hughes said. That’s the lowest since March 2022.
Oil prices are falling sharply on Thursday afternoon amid a strengthening U.S. dollar and after Wednesday’s release of data on a significant reduction in U.S. inventories.
July Brent crude futures on London’s ICE Futures exchange stood at $76.94 a barrel by 2:26 p.m. Thursday, down $1.42 (1.81%) from the previous session’s closing price.
The price of WTI crude futures for July on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) electronic trading was down $1.46 (1.96%) to $72.88 a barrel by that time.
The DXY index, which shows the value of the U.S. dollar relative to the six major world currencies, is up 0.2% in trading, making oil less attractive to holders of other currencies.
Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry is expected to increase upstream investment by 7% in 2023, to more than $500 billion, the International Energy Agency (IEA) points out in its annual World Energy Investment Outlook.
“Many major oil and gas companies have announced expansion of investment programs due to record revenues,” the IEA notes. – However, due to uncertainty about relatively long-term demand, cost concerns, and calls from many investors and owners to focus on profitability as opposed to production growth, only the major oil state companies in the Middle East will spend much more in 2023 than in 2022, and this is the only part of the sector where investment will exceed pre-pandemic levels.”
The day before, we also learned that U.S. oil inventories fell by 12.456 million barrels last week. This is the sharpest drop since November 2022, Trading Economics wrote.
Gasoline reserves fell by 2.05 million barrels and distillates by 561,000 barrels.
Experts polled by S&P Global Commodity Insights expected oil reserves to decrease by 500 thousand barrels, gasoline reserves to decrease by 2.1 million barrels and distillates reserves to decrease by 600 thousand barrels.
Oil prices rise weakly on Tuesday as traders continue to follow negotiations to raise the U.S. borrowing limit.
Negotiations between U.S. President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday were productive, according to both sides, but no agreement was reached. Meanwhile, the deadline for raising the debt ceiling is approaching: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the day before that her agency’s funds are “highly likely” to run out in early June and possibly even by June 1.
“The pending national debt limit issue is taking a toll on the mood of oil traders,” said Ricardo Evangelista, chief analyst at ActivTrades.
“If the issue is not resolved soon, the U.S. Treasury will be left without funds and unable to meet its obligations, and this scenario could trigger a crisis whose scale is unpredictable,” Market Watch quotes the expert as saying.
The cost of July futures for Brent crude oil on London’s ICE Futures exchange is $76.13 a barrel by 8:15 a.m. on Tuesday, up $0.14 (0.18%) from the previous session’s closing price. Those contracts rose $0.41 (0.5%) to $75.99 a barrel on Monday.
The price of WTI futures for July oil grew by $0.16 (0.22%) up to $72.21 per barrel at electronic trades of NYMEX by that time. At the end of previous session the contracts value grew by $0.36 (0.5%) up to $72.05 per barrel.
Since the beginning of the current year, oil prices fell by about 10% against the slower-than-expected recovery of the Chinese economy after the lifting of quarantine restrictions. Other factors restraining the oil market upturn include the ongoing tightening of monetary policy by the Federal Reserve System and the continued high volume of Russian oil exports.
Oil prices are rising on Friday after declining the day before. Investors continue to gauge the economic outlook for the U.S. and China, Trading Economics noted.
The cost of July futures for Brent on London’s ICE Futures Exchange is $76.53 a barrel by 8:16 a.m. on Friday, up $0.67 (0.88%) from the previous session’s closing price. Those contracts fell $1.1 (1.4%) to $75.86 a barrel on Thursday.
The price of WTI futures for June oil grew by $0.56 (0.78%) up to $72.42 per barrel at electronic auctions of New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by that time. At the end of previous session the contracts value has fallen by $0.97 (1.3%) down to $71.86 per barrel.
It has become clear in recent months that trends in the oil market are driven more by concerns about demand than supply, Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management, told MarketWatch.
“In recent days, concerns about banks have given way to concerns about the (U.S. – IF-U) government debt ceiling,” Cieszynski explained. – The approach (of the negotiating parties – IF-U) to reaching an agreement aimed at avoiding a default on U.S. debt has supported stock markets and appears to be providing some support for the oil market as well.”
U.S. President Joe Biden, speaking earlier at the White House, said he was confident that “we will have an agreement and the U.S. will not default.
Oil prices are falling on Thursday after a strong rise in the previous session.
The cost of July futures for Brent on London’s ICE Futures Exchange stood at $76.73 a barrel by 8:15 a.m. Thursday, down $0.23 (0.3%) from the close of the previous session. Those contracts rose $2.05 (2.7%) to $76.96 a barrel on Wednesday.
The price of WTI futures for June oil fell by $0.23 (0.32%) to $72.6 per barrel at electronic auctions of New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by that time. The contract value grew by $1.97 (2.8%) to $72.83 per barrel at the end of previous session.
Support to the market on Wednesday was given by the statements of U.S. President Joe Biden, who again expressed optimism about negotiations on the state debt ceiling issue, notes Market Watch.
“I am confident that we will have an agreement and the U.S. will not default,” Biden said while speaking at the White House.
“Investors’ hopes that the U.S. government debt limit problem will be resolved soon are increasing,” notes StoneX analyst Fawad Razakzada. – Biden’s statement led to an increase in appetite for risk in world markets, including oil”.
However, the market was constrained by the U.S. Department of Energy data which showed an increase in oil inventories in the country for the second week in a row.
Last week commercial inventories in the U.S. rose by 5.04 million barrels, a record high over the past 12 weeks. Analysts had expected a decline of 2 million barrels.
Gasoline inventories declined by 1.38 million barrels, while distillate stocks increased by 80,000 barrels. Experts forecasted reduction by 2 million barrels and 1.5 million barrels respectively.
