Mixed picture for crude prices

After a strong start, Brent prices turned slightly negative on Tuesday afternoon and touched an intraday low at $104.53/b, pressured by a stronger USD following Lael Brainard’s statement (see Macro comment) and renewed concerns over the impact on China’s crude oil demand of an extended COVID lockdown in Shanghai (confirmed by a dwindling services PMI index in March, see Macro comment). But concerns over a new sanction package covering Russian oil exports limited losses overall.

On the agenda today, the release of the weekly US EIA crude stock report could be a market mover notably if US crude production continues to increase after its 0.1 Mbd increment last week. API weekly figures showed a small increase in US crude stocks overnight, while gasoline inventories dropped further. News on potential additional sanctions against Russia could also play a role.