The price of Brent crude oil was falling on Tuesday after a rise the day before, while WTI, which was not traded on Monday, was stable.
The oil market has remained in a narrow price range of around $11/bbl since early 2023. On the one hand, it is supported by expectations of increased demand in China after the lifting of quarantine restrictions and fears of supply reduction on the market due to the reduction of production by Russia. On the other hand – the market fears the weakening of the U.S. economy amid tighter monetary policy by the Federal Reserve (Fed), said Bloomberg.
The price of April Brent crude futures on London’s CE Futures exchange is $83.08 a barrel by 7:10 a.m. Tuesday, down $0.99 (1.18%) from the previous session’s closing price. Those contracts rose $1.07 (1.3%) to $84.07 a barrel on Monday.
The price of WTI futures for April oil grew by $0.03 (0.04%) to $76.58 per barrel at electronic trades of New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by that time. There were no major trades on the NYMEX on Monday due to a holiday in the U.S. (Presidents’ Day).
March contracts, which expire at the close of Tuesday’s session, are stable at $76.34 a barrel.
The big event this week is the release of the minutes of the latest Fed meeting, in which the benchmark interest rate was raised by 25 basis points.
“Any hawkish signals in the Fed meeting minutes will be a catalyst for lower oil prices,” notes IG Asia Pte Ltd. analyst Yep June Rong. The market, according to him, is trying to go up amid improving prospects for supply due to the economic recovery in China.
In addition, experts see signals of increased demand in India: refinery workload in the country in January rose to its maximum level for five years, notes Bloomberg.
