Brent crude oil futures prices in the Asia-Pacific market were basically stable in the morning session.
Ahead of the EIA's weekly U.S. crude oil inventory report and the OPEC+ meeting on December 5, Brent crude oil futures prices on ICE were generally stable in the Asia-Pacific market during the morning session.
As of 12:00 PM Beijing time, the price of the nearest February Brent contract on ICE is $73.67 per barrel, up 5 cents from the December 3 settlement price, with the contract closing price for the day up $1.79 from the previous trading day.
The price of WTI crude oil futures contracts is $69.98 per barrel, up 4 cents from the December 3 settlement price, with the contract closing price for the day up $1.84 from the previous trading day.
The OPEC+ group will hold a meeting on December 5, during which member countries will discuss possibly postponing the increase in crude oil production planned for January. This will be the group's third postponement of the rollback of reduction measures.
Market participants are also waiting for the weekly crude oil inventory data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The agency reported last time that U.S. crude oil inventories decreased by 1.8 million barrels in the week ending November 22, mainly due to a reduction in imports into the Gulf Coast region.
Oil analysis firm AlphaBBL reported that crude oil inventories in Cushing, Oklahoma, slightly decreased in the week ending November 29, while inventories at major terminals in Texas increased.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Treasury added 21 tankers to its sanctions list, accusing these tankers of assisting Iran in exporting crude oil and refined products. The U.S. sanctions list now includes a total of 365 tankers and other vessels accused of assisting in the export of Iranian oil and other goods, including 131 tankers added by the Treasury's sanctions enforcement division this year since 2019.
China is the largest single destination for Iranian oil. However, a statement from the U.S. Treasury claims that the UAE imported fuel oil and naphtha cargoes from Iran earlier this year. Being subjected to U.S. sanctions typically makes it difficult for foreign businesses or vessels to conduct transactions, as they lose access to the dollar-denominated banking system that supports international trade.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch predicts that by 2025, the average prices for Brent and WTI crude oil will be $65 per barrel and $61 per barrel, respectively, significantly down from previous forecasts. The bank stated that the downward revision is due to supply growth exceeding demand growth, which 'will create an enormous surplus of about 800,000 barrels per day in the market by 2025.'
In previous forecasts, the bank expected Brent crude oil prices to be $75 per barrel and WTI crude oil to be $71 per barrel next year.
(The above content is from the latest views of independent international energy and commodity price assessment agency Argus.)
Article forwarded from: Jin10 Data