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Oil Reverses Losses as Energy Dept Rule Out SPR Use

COMMODITIES
  • WTI and Brent crude futures traded under pressure in early Thursday hours, with a Russian pledge to stabilise gas prices and speculated use of the US' Strategic Petroleum Reserve putting a cap on oil prices. This soon reversed into the US close, however, with the US Energy Department issuing a statement clarifying that there were no intentions to either release reserves or place a ban on energy exports. As a result, WTI recovered around $3/bbl off the lows of $74.96/bbl.
  • EU-bound gas prices held the bulk of the losses off the record highs printed earlier in the week. Front month futures halved in price off the Wednesday highs and staged only a mild recovery into the Thursday close, further suggesting that fears of a supply crunch across winter may have eased.
  • Gold traded modestly lower into the Thursday close, with spot prices failing to make headway on the show above the Wednesday highs. Buoyant equity markets worked against the yellow metal, with progress toward resolving the debt ceiling boosting risk appetite.

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