I wrote – Marwa Al Ghoul
Tuesday, March 28, 2023 02:00 PM
registered Oil prices today Tuesday, $77.85 a barrel for Brent crude futures contracts, and US West Texas Intermediate crude futures recorded $72.83, as prices rose today.
The Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries published, “OAPECWeekly developments in the global oil markets in light of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, as crude oil prices recorded weekly gains in the futures markets, amounting to about 2.8% for Brent crude and 3.8% for US West Texas crude.
With regard to the main factors supporting the rise in oil prices, they included the following:
1- Measures aimed at stabilizing the banking sector, including the acquisition of Credit Suisse by UBS and pledges from central banks to boost liquidity, have allayed concerns about the possibility of a recession that would dampen demand.
2- Russia’s extension of the decision to reduce its production of crude oil by 500 thousand barrels / day until the end of June 2023, which raised concerns about the scarcity of supplies.
3- The rise in total US exports of crude oil and petroleum products to a weekly record level of 11.9 million BJ, which supports expectations of strong growth in demand.
4- The rise in commercial crude oil inventories in the United States of America to its highest level recorded since May 2021, which is about 481.2 million barrels.
5- US gasoline stocks decreased at the largest weekly rate since September 2021, amounting to about 6.4 million barrels, to settle near their lowest levels recorded during the current year.
6- The US Federal Reserve issued an increase of only 0.25% in the interest rate, with reference to the possibility of a temporary halt to future increases, which led to the decline of the dollar to its lowest level in six weeks, and oil became less expensive in other currencies.
Other factors that limited the rise in oil prices included the following:
1- The US Department of Energy indicated that it could take several years to replenish its low strategic stock of crude oil, which weakens expectations of demand growth.
2- The decline in bank shares in Europe due to growing fears of the continuation of the worst crises facing the banking sector since the global financial crisis in 2008.
