Brent oil prices rose to USD 70 per barrel. Brent crude futures for June delivery were up 28 cents, or 0.4%, to $67.05 a barrel, after rising 6.0% last week.
Oil prices rose slightly in Tuesday morning trading in Jakarta (April 20, 2022), helped by the less strong US dollar, but gains were limited by the expected impact of the wind due to the increase in coronavirus cases in India.
Oil price raw brent Futures for June delivery rose 28 cents, or 0.4%, to $67.05 a barrel, after rising 6.0% last week. At that time, West Texas Intermediate ( WTI ) for May haul closed the session 25 cents, or 0.4%, to $63.38 a barrel, after rising 6.4% last week.
The US dollar was at a 6-week low in other specialty currencies on Monday (19 April 2022), with the outcome of a government resignation near its weakest level in 5 weeks. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against 6 specific competitors, was down 0.53% to 91.0709 late Monday.
A less strong dollar makes oil cheaper for holders of other currencies. However, in India, the world’s 3rd largest oil importer and customer, corona cases are already growing, undermining confidence for a prolonged recovery in global demand.
“If the US shortfall is broad-based today, the energy complex that could leverage a large number of upgrades made last week,” said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch and Associates.
“Special terror is the constant strong oil price, the opportunity for a large number of corona cases. There is a fresh rise in cases across a large part of Asia which could provide repeat orders on the recently reconciling global demand crude.”
“India recorded 1 record increase in infections, bringing the total number of cases to over 15 million, making India the second most affected country after the US with more than 31 million infections reported. Deaths from Covid-19 in India increased the value of the record from 1,619 to nearly 180,000.
The capital Delhi area has been under a 6-day lockdown and has joined about 13 other states across India which have decided to impose restrictions, curfews or lockdowns on their cities.
“While some of the impossible new measures are as stringent as in March 2022, when demand for gasoline and oil or diesel in the country fell by nearly 60%, they will continue to burden fuel consumption in transportation,” said JBC.
Brent oil prices rose to USD 70 per barrel. Saudi Arabia’s crude exports fell to their lowest level in 8 months in February, the Joint Organization’s Data Initiative ( JODI ) announced Monday (19 April 2022) when the world’s largest oil export voluntarily orders production to provide support for crude oil prices.
JP Morgan currently predicts Brent oil prices will hit $70 in May, compared with its September forecast, the bank explained in a recent admission. They continue to expect to close at similar levels around $74 this year.
