Oil: an overview of the market situation

The price of oil fell more than 3%, dropping below $ 100, as concerns over the economic growth in China and the United States and the build-up of oil in the United States has weakened demand prospects. Note that by the end of April, oil prices fell by 7%, showing the biggest monthly drop in 11 months, against the background of the fact that many indicators suggest that the global economy remains in a fragile state.

Note that the dynamics of today's trades affected the data that was presented the Energy Information Administration. As it became known, last week, U.S. crude inventories rose 6.7 million barrels to 395.280 million barrels level, which is the highest value ever recorded. Note that according to the average forecasts of experts, the reserves were to increase by 1 million barrels. The submitted report also showed that U.S. gasoline inventories fell by 1,818 million barrels to 215.984 million barrels, distillate stocks in the U.S. rose by 0.474 million barrels to 115.752 million barrels, while stocks of oil in Cushing terminal fell to 1.382 million barrels 49801000 barrels. The Department of Energy also reported that refinery utilization in the U.S. 84.4% compared to 83.5% the previous week.

Also affected by the oil price data for China. According to the report, the purchasing managers' index, which measures activity in the manufacturing sector fell last month to a level of 50.6, up from 50.9 in March. We add that, according to the average forecast of economists, the value of this index was down to 50.8. Recall that the index value above 50 indicates expansion of the sector. It should be noted that PMI is in growth area for seven months.

We add that the survey of industry participants and analysts showed that by the end of last month, the volume of oil production in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has grown significantly, reaching thus the highest level since November of last year. However, it is still significantly below the level of 31 million barrels per day reached in late last year. As it became known that the cartel's oil output in April to an average of 30.466 million barrels a day, or about 240,000 barrels a day more than the 30.226 million barrels a day in March. This is the highest after the end of last year, Saudi Arabia lowered its production by almost 5% in response to a decrease in demand from Asian buyers. Note that the increase in OPEC production in April was largely the result of increased oil production in Iraq, Libya, the United Arab Emirates and Iran. Meanwhile, it was revealed Iran's oil production has also increased. Recall that last week, the U.S. Energy Department announced that sanctions have led to a decrease in the export of oil from the Islamic republic to its lowest level since 1986.

The cost of the June futures on U.S. light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) fell to 90.20 dollars per barrel.

June futures price for North Sea Brent crude oil mixture fell $ 2.81 to $ 98.84 a barrel on the London exchange ICE Futures Europe.