Oil prices rose in Asia on Monday evening after suffering heavy losses last week. Oil prices fell about 13% from the previous week after the U.S. announced plans to sell up to 1 million barrels per day of U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) for six months. Saudi Arabia raised the price of its flagship crude to a record premium for Asian markets.
- Brent crude futures are up 3.51% to $108.00 per barrel.
- WTI crude futures were up 4.13% to $103.40 per barrel.
The United Nations is helping negotiate a two-month cease-fire between the Saudi Arabia-led coalition and the Iran-linked Houthi. It is the first cease-fire in seven years of conflict. During the conflict, a Saudi oil facility was recently attacked by the Houthi alliance, resulting in a large fire.
Saudi oil and gas condensate production declined to 11.01 million barrels per day in March, compared with the average production of 11.08 million barrels per day in February.
In this regard, Saudi Arabia’s Aramco has raised a record premium on the selling prices of its flagship crude oil for the Asian market. The premium for Saudi crude is now $9.35 per barrel above the Oman/Dubai benchmark price.
Western sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 have also affected Russian oil refining and exports. Estimates of Russian oil losses range from one to three million barrels per day.
Meanwhile, the lockdown period has been extended to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the city of Shanghai. This gives the oil market some breathing room at the moment.
The Spot Market Open
Monday, April 4, 2022
| Energy Updated at | USD Price | Change | %Change |
| Crude Oil 22.30 | 102.92 | +3.65 | 3.68% |