By Srinivas Chowdary Sunkara // petrobazaar // 23rd March, 2022.
Brent oil futures prices for May delivery slid 14 cents or 0.12 pct to $115.48 a barrel on London based ICE futures Europe exchange. WTI oil futures to be delivered in May slipped 36 cents or 0.32 pct to $111.76 a barrel on NYMEX last night. In Shanghai, Crude oil main contract futures prices went up 36.9 Yuan to 713Yuan/bbl while MCX crude oil front month futures prices traded little higher at Rs.8370 a barrel yesterday. Brent premium over WTI widened up to $3.72 a barrel during the session.
The world crude oil price index curves moved flat yesterday after both the benchmark prices changed a little since traders stayed away from trading after it looked that EU nations unlikely to join U.S in trade embargo in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine. EU foreign ministers were split on the ban as some countries including Germany backing away from a Russian ban amid its dependence on Russia's oil. Oil prices also drew some support from geo-political tensions. Turning to weekly numbers, API predicted that U.S crude stocks fell by 4.28 Mbpd while gasoline and distillates stocks are drawn by 626K and 826K respectively during the last week. EIA will confirm numbers later today. Consensus is on 'no change' in crude stocks and decline in product stocks. Technically speaking, Investors trimmed bullish petroleum positions for the second week amid fears of intensifying inflation, Rising interest rates, Pressure from higher fuel bills and continued lockdowns in China. Asian markets opened in green today. Any change in weekly numbers may spur some volatility in oil prices.
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
