The price of Brent crude oil has stabilised at around $105/b
There has been very little change in oil prices since their sharp decline following the announcement of the use of US strategic reserves. The price of…
Brent prompt prices are back to their level of the start of the week: above $73/b. The sharp downward correction on concerns over the Delta variant ($67.44/b was touched on Tuesday) has been entirely erased, as risky assets in general posted a strong recovery and the oil market acknowledged it would remain under supplied during summer. The prompt time spread has jumped higher to 0.65/b in backwardation, a bullish pattern.
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The rebound in air traffic on both sides of the Atlantic is fueling optimism, although it remains some 35% below 2919 levels in Europe and road traffic appears to be declining due to increasing restrictions imposed to cope with the rapid spread of the virus on the continent.
Russia is ready to introduce a ban on gasoline exports as soon as next week to limit the rise in domestic prices. Such a measure had already been discussed in April without being implemented. Russia exported 5.83mt of gasoline last year according to Bloomberg calculation.