May 02, 2022 03:36 GMT
A Touch Lower To Start The Week
OIL
WTI & Brent crude futures have started the week on the backfoot, sitting ~$1.00 below their respective settlement levels at typing.
- A combination of a firmer USD and worries re: the COVID situation in China, after Beijing introduced stricter mobility restrictions (while the situation in Shanghai has improved), has weighed on crude prices.
- Elsewhere, Sunday saw Libya’s National Oil Corporation announce the “temporary” lifting of force majeure and resumption of operations at the Zueitina oil terminal to drawdown stock and free up storage space. This came after the NOC warned of “imminent environmental disaster” at the facility unless tanks were emptied. This could be providing an incremental amount of pressure to crude futures.
- Finally, a BBG source report re: the EU looking for an embargo of Russian oil by year end has failed to impact the space, with the NYT running a similar story on Friday and after Hungary expressed its willingness to veto such a move on the EU stage.
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