Oil price: no sign of falling below $100

Despite the crude build in the US, consistently confirmed by two reports in the past two days, the price of crude oil shows no sign of losing momentum in its upward trend. Both API, American Petroleum Institute, and the EIA, US Energy Information Administration, released data that shows a crude buil…

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Is Russian rouble defying sanctions - after all?

The unexpected recovery of the Russian rouble by more than 42% in one month has, undoubtedly,  left the decision makers in the West in an uncomfortable lurch, especially when the expected outcome was the exact inverse.  Making matters worse for the policymakers, the anticipated oil and gas revenue b…

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US crude oil stocks drop - unexpectedly!

The US crude oil stocks fell by 4.496 million barrels, defying the prediction of a crude oil build of 2.233 barrels, according to the API, American Petroleum Institute.  Analysts anticipated yet another build, in line with the huge crude build reported last week - 7.757 million barrels, while taking…

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What drives the oil and gas prices down - against all odds?

The price of crude oil and LNG, liquefied natural gas, started falling on Tuesday - quite unexpectedly. In fact, the crude oil market braced themselves for the polar opposite, especially in light of the new major offensive by Russia in the east of Ukraine. As of 16:30 GMT, the price of WTI, Brent and…

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Crude oil prices: no sign of coming down - any time soon!

It is now clear that the release of SPRs, strategic petroleum reserves, is not a magic wand in reversing the steep rise in crude oil prices; the movers and shakers of the markets simply know that the release is just a drop in the ocean, just to earn a psychological victory for political reasons bef…

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Rising gas prices and falling oil prices: a scary tale of two contrasts

The prices of crude oil fell sharply on Monday, something that analysts attributed to the release of SPRs, strategic petroleum reserves, by the IEA, the International Energy Agency. The IEA, according to Bloomberg, has released 120 million barrels of crude oil in line with the major fuel consuming n…

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A crude build, not the release of SPRs, brings down oil prices - slightly

President Biden's much-trumpeted release of SPRs, strategic petroleum reserves, neither brought down the rising oil prices nor forced the Middle Eastern producers to pump more out in order to relieve the pressure on tight global crude markets. On the contrary, the price of crude oil kept rising …

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