By Srinivas Chowdary Sunkara // petrobazaar // 20th August, 2020.
Brent oil futures for Oct delivery slid 9 cents or 0.20% to close at $45.37 on London based ICE futures Europe exchange and U.S based WTI oil futures to be delivered in Sep ticked up 4 cents to $42.93 a barrel on NYMEX last night. U.S Sep futures set to expire today. In Shanghai, Crude oil main contract futures closed at 284.1 Yuan/barrel while MCX crude oil August futures, that expired yesterday, Settled Rs.34 up at Rs.3234 a barrel yesterday. Brent traded at a premium of $2.52 a barrel over WTI during the session.
The World crude oil price indexes moved down yesterday on sounding of demand worries by U.S federal reserve and OPEC+ since many countries are struggling to contain the epidemic. Strengthening U.S dollar also weighed on oil complex. On a positive note, EIA published bullish numbers, not as expected by analysts. Traders are awaiting for clues from OPEC+ JMCC meeting since early week and the outcome is within the expectations.
Turning to EIA weekly data, U.S petroleum reserves are showing very clear signs of recovery in consumption. Crude oil stocks fell for another week by 4.3 Mb, Might be due to sharp slow down in imports, especially from KSA coupled with drop in U.S production compared with last year's numbers. Gasoline stocks were drawn by 3.3Mb that is signalling increase in traffic on roads. Distillates stocks were remained high by 0.2Mb. Crude imports are running well under 6 Mbpd. Refinery runs are unchanged. Cushing stocks were down during the last week.
Today Morning, Asian markets opened down and trading lower at the time of writing. As per the analysts, Physical markets are week. Structure has weakened but while flat price vulnerable to downside.
Good day to all.
Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed here are personal. This commentary is for information purposes only and not an offer or a solicitation to sell or buy any physical commodities or financial instruments. The views and analysis are based on reliable public information available at the time of writing. This report and its content cannot be copied, redistributed or reproduced in part or whole without the prior written permission of petrobazaar.com
