Oil prices, which ended last week at their highest levels since October, are falling on Monday.
The cost of June futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 8:10 a.m. is $89.91 per barrel, which is $1.26 (1.38%) lower than at the close of the previous trading. On Friday, these contracts rose by $0.52 (0.6%) to $91.17 per barrel.
Futures for WTI for May in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) have fallen by $1.15 (1.32%) to $85.76 per barrel by this time. As a result of the previous trading, the value of these contracts increased by $0.32 (0.4%) to $86.91 per barrel.
Last week, Brent rose in price by 4.8%, WTI – by 4.5%.
Traders continue to monitor geopolitical news, given Iran’s threats to retaliate against Israel for the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus. Despite the sanctions, Iran is the third largest oil producer in OPEC, Market Watch notes.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Forces withdrew all units from the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday night, The Jerusalem Post reported. According to the newspaper, only one Israeli army brigade has remained in place, tasked with ensuring the security of the corridor linking southern Israel with the Gaza coast.
“A concession such as the withdrawal from Gaza is in no way a reason to discount the threat of a more direct conflict between Israel and Iran,” said Vishnu Varathan, an analyst at Mizuho Bank in Singapore. – “The volatility of oil prices remains, and this is mainly due to geopolitics.
Oil prices are steadily rising on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the release of US inventory data.
The cost of June futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 14:40, is $89.68 per barrel, which is $0.76 (0.85%) higher than at the close of the previous trading.
Futures for WTI for May in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) have risen in price by this time by $0.73 (0.86%) to $85.88 per barrel.
Trading Economics notes a sharp increase in the risk of oil supply disruptions after Iran’s announcement of a planned response to the Israeli air strike on its consulate in Damascus.
On Wednesday, the OPEC+ monitoring committee also met. According to an Interfax source, the committee’s ministers did not make any recommendations to the alliance based on its results; a full meeting of OPEC+ is scheduled for June 1.
In addition, at 17:30, the US Department of Energy will publish a weekly report on oil, gasoline, and distillate stocks in the country. The data released the day before by the American Petroleum Institute (API) showed a drop in oil reserves by 2.286 million barrels in the week ended March 29.
Benchmark crude oil prices continue to rise after a steady increase in the first quarter.
Market participants are looking forward to the meeting of the OPEC+ Ministerial Monitoring Committee later this week.
Quotations for June futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 8:05 a.m. ET amounted to $87.25 per barrel, which is $0.25 (0.3%) higher than the level at the close of the previous trading. By this time, the price of May futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) had risen by $0.28 (0.3%) to $83.44 per barrel.
The NYMEX and ICE Futures were closed on Friday, March 29, due to Good Friday.
In March, Brent rose by 4.6% and WTI by 6.3%, with the rise recorded for the third month in a row. In the first quarter, prices rose by 13.6% and 16.1%, respectively, according to Dow Jones Market data.
Oil prices are falling on Wednesday on the back of data from the American Petroleum Institute (API), which showed a significant increase in US stockpiles.
The cost of May futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 7:10 a.m. was $85.54 per barrel, which is $0.71 (0.82%) lower than at the close of the previous trading. On Tuesday, these contracts fell by $0.5 (0.6%) to $86.25 per barrel.
May futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) fell by $0.61 (0.75%) to $81.01 per barrel by this time. As a result of previous trading, the value of these contracts decreased by $0.33 (0.4%) to $81.62 per barrel.
According to API estimates, US oil inventories increased by 9.337 million barrels in the week ended March 22, the highest increase since mid-February 2023.
Oil inventories at the Cushing terminal, where Nymex-traded crude is stored, increased by 2.4 million barrels, API reported.
Official data on energy reserves in the US will be released by the Department of Energy at 16:30 pm.
The oil market continues to monitor the geopolitical situation and awaits news from OPEC+.
The coalition states, which will hold a regular meeting on April 3, are likely to maintain the current production restrictions. According to Bloomberg, citing sources, the OPEC+ countries do not yet see the need to change production volumes.
Benchmark crude oil prices are rising on Monday morning.
Despite a slight downward correction in trading on Friday, crude rose by about 4% last week, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
“The most turbulent part of the rally is still ahead,” said Alex Kupcikiewicz, senior market analyst at FxPro, as quoted by MarketWatch.
The price of May futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 7:00 a.m. was $85.64 per barrel, which is $0.3 (0.35%) higher than at the close of the previous session. On Friday, these contracts fell by $0.08 (0.1%) to $85.34 per barrel.
Quotes for WTI futures for April in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in the morning increased by $0.35 (0.43%) to $81.39 per barrel. At the end of the previous session, the price of these contracts fell by $0.22 (0.3%) to $81.04 per barrel.
The market was boosted, in particular, by the news of a decline in US oil inventories for the first time in seven weeks.
Other factors contributing to the growth of quotations are the persistence of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, attacks by Ukrainian drones on Russian refineries and the extension of production restrictions by OPEC+ countries, experts say.
In addition, the International Energy Agency has raised its 2024 demand forecast by 200 thousand barrels per day to 103.2 million bpd. As a result, the IEA now expects the global market to face a deficit of about 300 thousand bpd this year instead of the previously expected small surplus if OPEC+ restrictions continue.
On Friday morning, oil prices for benchmark brands are being adjusted downward after rising to their highest levels since early November following the results of previous trading.
The price of May futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 7:00 a.m. was $85.23 per barrel, which is $0.19 (0.22%) lower than at the close of the previous session. On Thursday, these contracts rose by $1.39 (1.7%) to $85.42 per barrel.
Quotes for WTI futures for April in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in the morning fell by $0.17 (0.21%) to $81.09 per barrel. At the end of the previous session, the price of these contracts rose by $1.54 (1.9%) to $81.26 per barrel.
Since the beginning of the week, oil has risen in price by about 4% due to signs of high demand in the United States and bullish analysts’ forecasts for fuel consumption this year, Trading Economics writes.
The International Energy Agency on Thursday raised its forecast for oil demand in 2024 by 200 thousand barrels per day to 103.2 million bpd. In particular, the estimate of oil consumption in the first quarter was improved by 400 thousand bpd to 102 million bpd, the forecast for the second and third quarters was increased by 200 thousand bpd to 103 and 104 million bpd, respectively.
