Market Overview
Crude and refined product futures experienced a broad decline on Wednesday as a significant increase in U.S. crude inventories overshadowed initial optimism surrounding potential extensions of production cuts by OPEC and its allies.
Crude Futures
- At 12:10 p.m. EST, April NYMEX West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped by 15cts to $78.75/bbl, while May WTI saw a decrease of 20cts to $78.05/bbl.
- London-based ICE Brent for April delivery slipped 5cts to $83.60/bbl, with May Brent down by 30cts to $82.35/bbl.
Product Futures
- Most-active April NYMEX ULSD fell 5.25cts to $2.6455/bbl, while the front-month March ULSD contract slid 5.90cts to $2.687/bbl.
- April RBOB witnessed a decline of 2.85cts to $2.566/bbl, with March RBOB down 3.9cts to $2.3050/gal.
Inventory Data
The downturn in the petroleum futures complex followed the release of the latest Energy Information Administration data, which revealed a notable 4.2 million bbl increase in U.S. commercial crude stocks for the week ended Friday. This spike raised concerns about oversupply, offsetting drawdowns in gasoline and distillate inventories.
OPEC+ Production Cuts
OPEC+ is contemplating extending voluntary oil output cuts into the second quarter, as reported by Reuters based on information from three unidentified OPEC+ sources.
Write Your Comment