Crude oil futures prices closed lower on Monday (14th), as news reports that the United States seeks Venezuela’s help to increase crude oil supplies to fill the gap caused by the Russia-Ukraine war and China’s blockade measures due to a surge in new crown cases may dampen energy demand .
energy commodity prices
WTI CrudeFutures prices hit 130 a barrel last week Dollarabove the level, and Brent CrudeAt the same time trading close to 140 Dollarbut then continued to fall in a volatile trading environment.
- Natural gas futures for April delivery fell 1.4% to settle at 4.658 per million Btu Dollar。
- Gasoline futures for April delivery fell 4.3% to settle near 3.169 a gallon Dollar。
- Delivered in AprilThermal Fuel FuturesPrices fell 4.1% to settle at 3.276 a gallon Dollar。
market driving force
Oil prices were under pressure on Monday following news reports that the United States intends to lift sanctions on Venezuelan oil should help ease supply losses from sanctions imposed by Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
Oil prices sold off earlier on the back of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, then rebounded slightly as the talks appeared to have failed, said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group.
Investor optimism buoyed European stocks as Russian and Ukrainian officials held a fourth meeting on Monday, but U.S. stocks were lower on no apparent progress in the talks. Negotiations are now expected to restart on Tuesday.
Flynn said a report on Monday said the United States would allow some Venezuelan oil-to-bond swaps in an effort to increase the supply of oil in the market. He believes that the U.S. government is eager to reach a deal with Venezuela because diesel supplies are at historically low levels.
Archyde.com reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter, that if Washington eases sanctions on Venezuela, Chevron Corp.CVX-US) is preparing to take over the operations of its joint venture in Venezuela.
This follows the intensification of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Last weekend, the Russian army intensified attacks on Ukrainian cities. After Russia warned that it would treat weapons shipments as a legitimate target, an airstrike on a Ukrainian military training facility on the Polish border killed 35 people in one day. .
“Escalating tensions in Ukraine and negative pressure on oil prices are at play as oil prices have failed to break above 130 since last week’s ban on Russian oil imports by the United States and the United Kingdom,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote. Dollarmark. “
“This price action suggests that last week’s highs were largely taken into account before bad news was announced.” He added that oil prices might fall further and should be watched closely at 95 Dollarto 100 Dollarlevel.
At the same time, China’s new crown epidemic has become more serious, and many cities have adopted lockdown measures. Shenzhen, a major manufacturing town in the southeast with a population of 17 million, announced the closure of the city on Sunday.
Warren Patterson, head of commodity strategy at ING: “This will raise concerns that demand will be hit, but also importantly, it will show that China is not ready to abandon its zero policy.”
Meanwhile, Russia last week asked the United States to guarantee that trade between Russia and Iran would be exempt from recent sanctions once morest Russia. The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that the U.S. will not ease sanctions on Russia over the nuclear deal, and plans to create a new deal that excludes Russia.
