Oil prices rose again, today, Tuesday, July 4 (2023), in the wake of the markets being affected by the announced cuts for the month of August, by the major producers and exporters in the world, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia.
Yesterday, Monday, July 3, Saudi Arabia announced that it would extend the additional oil production cut by one million barrels per day, for another month, starting next August, which led to a state of uncertainty about the global economy, according to a report published by Reuters. It was reviewed by the specialized energy platform.
Oil prices were affected by the Saudi announcement, as yesterday’s Monday sessions witnessed a state of volatility in which oil rose several times, to stay above the barrier of $75 per barrel for a certain period, before returning to decline at the end of trading.
Crude oil prices today
By 7:00 AM GMT (10:00 AM Mecca time), Brent crude futures for September delivery were up 54 cents, or 0.77%, at $75.21 a barrel.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures – August 2023 delivery – also rose 56 cents, or 0.75%, to $70.33 a barrel, according to figures seen by the specialized energy platform.
Oil prices closed yesterday, Monday, on a decline for Brent crude to $74.90, while WTI fell below $70 a barrel, in sessions that witnessed remarkable volatility, in light of the hesitation of dealers in the oil markets.
It is noteworthy that oil prices ended their dealings, on Friday, June 30, with an increase of more than 1%, continuing to reap gains, supported by hopes for a recovery in oil demand, but at the same time it recorded its fourth quarterly loss.
The benchmark Brent crude recorded weekly gains of 1.4%, and monthly gains of about 3.2%, but it recorded losses of about 5.7% during the second quarter of this year 2023, while West Texas Intermediate crude recorded weekly gains of 2.1%, and monthly gains of 3.8%, but it achieved Quarterly losses of 6.7%.
Oil price analysis
ING analysts said, in a note to clients, that fundamentals do not have as much of an impact on the direction of oil prices as some might expect, and instead the uncertain macro outlook is what the market is focusing on, as it is difficult to see this pattern changing significantly. big in the short term.
Analysts pointed out that it is difficult to see this change, although the additional cuts lay a stronger ground for Brent crude at about $70 a barrel, at a time when US markets are expected to close on the country’s Independence Day holiday, and oil indices stabilize by about 1% in the previous session.
And Saudi Arabia had announced that it would extend the voluntary cut in oil production, amounting to one million barrels per day, next August 2023, and at the same time, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced that his country would, in turn, reduce its oil exports by 500,000 barrels per day in the same month.
The cuts amount to about 1.5% of global supplies, and raise the total pledged by oil producers in OPEC + to 5.16 million barrels per day, as Riyadh and Moscow look to support oil prices, according to information monitored by the specialized energy platform.
At the same time, there are expectations that US crude inventories decreased by about 1.8 million barrels in the week ending on June 30, which is the third consecutive week of declines, as inventory data is expected to be published tomorrow, Wednesday, July 5.
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