Oil Summary at European Close: Crude Eases Back

Front month crude has retreated during a volatile session upon conflicting comments from senior Israeli officials and Hamas sources on progress in negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza.

• Brent JUN 24 down 1% at 90.22$/bbl
• WTI MAY 24 down 0.8% at 86.2$/bbl
• Reuters reporting comments from an unnamed Hamas official claiming that "no progress has yet been made" in the ceasefire talks that are taking place in Cairo.
• Iraq is working on repairing a pipeline that could allow it to send 350kbd to Turkey by the end of the month according to Reuters reports from an Iraqi oil minister on Monday.
• China’s independent refineries in the Shandong Province are estimated to import 70% less Sokol crude in April and May compared with March: Platts
• China is expected to issue its second batch of refined oil export quotas, with a volume of 18m mt: OilChem,
• Brent crude prices are expected to remain below $100/bbl – in the base case, Goldman Sachs said in a note.
• “[The] Second half of the year we are on track to have an extremely tight global oil market,” Citadel’s head of commodities Sebastian Barrack said at the FT Commodities Global Summit.
• Portfolio Investors are increasingly bullish about oil as OPEC+ squeeze production in the face of improved demand and rising Israel-Iran geopolitical tensions, Reuters said.
• Robust economic growth this year is driving oil demand, Chief Economist at Trafigura, Saad Rahim, said during the FT Commodities Global Summit.