Crude Oil Futures

The price of crude oil remains static at present, having been through some understandable fluctuations in light of the Omicron outbreak across the world. As of 09:00 GMT on Friday, the price of WTI and Brent stood at $71.33 and $74.66 respectively. The modest draw of the US crude inventories this wee, shown by both the API and EIA, did not boost an increase in price that some analysts predicted: perhaps, the four successive crude builds at the biggest storage hub in the US at Cushing, Oklahoma, may have dampened the mood of optimism of the traders to some extent; Bloomberg reports that the strategic facility managed to increase the volume above what it called, a key threshold – 30 million barrels. In another development, Indian oil ministry announced that the fuel demand in India fell by 11.4% in November: the sale of gasoline has come down by 0.7% and that of diesel by 7.6%. The drop of sale of diesel in the world’s third largest consumer should be an eye-opener for some of th

  The price of crude oil is slowly rising in the markets despite the recent volatility stemmed from the concerns over the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus.   As of 14:30 GMT on Wednesday, the prices of WTI and Brent were at $ 71.91 and $ 75.39 respectively. The price of crude oil did not follow the pattern that we see in the LNG, liquefied natural gas. It has come down nearly by 40% from its peak in November that triggered offed a panic wave in the markets, especially ahead of winter months in the northern hemisphere. Analysts attribute the upward momentum of the crude oil price to the diminishing danger of the latest outbreak of the Coronavirus: although it appears to be highly transmissible, the death toll across the world remains very low. The medical experts, however, are quick to note that it is far too early to say that the virus has ‘mellowed’ in order not to destroy its host, human beings; it remains to be seen, though. In another encouragement as far as the crude

Saudi Arabia, the worlds’ largest exporter, has raised the price of crude oil for the US and Asia with effect from December. As for Asia, the Arab light crude has gone up by 60 cents. The rise in price will affect the key customers of the Kingdom in the region that account for 60% of its exports; they include China, Japan, South Korea and India. The Saudis have been increasing the price of crude oil for Asia and the US from time to time this year. On the other hand, there are instances when they reduced the price for the regions too; in short, the Kingdom listens to the grievances of its loyal customers when the latter feel the pinch – and then respond favourably.   Saudi Aramco, the state oil company, however, showed reluctance when the very nations joined the chorus of global calls to increase the production that ultimately led to the joint release of strategic petroleum reserves, SPRs, led by the US. Saudi Arabia may have been prompted to make the move in light of clear sign