Crude Oil Futures

  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 before the beleaguered masses. In short, without a substantial increase in supply, the strategy is just a square plug in the round hall. If analysts see this as the only strategy that the Western leaders can think of at present, the very move will lose its shine and relevance  in due course, when policy makers scrambled to bang on heads, metaphorically speaking, are confined to places where there is very little room to manoeuvre.  On Monday, the price of crude oil fell sharply, when the IEA, International Energy Agency, grabbed headlines with its share of release of crude oil. When the numbers sank in, however, price of crude oil started going up again;  the quantity released was nowhere near

  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 nations that collectively released 180 million barrels.  The drop of the prices of crude oil at the beginning of the new week can be partly explained by the arrival of the fuel from the SPRs; in addition, there was a sentiment that the military conflict in Ukraine, that appeared to had been 'stalled' by then, may turn in Ukraine's favour. In stark contrast, meanwhile, the price of LNG, liquified natural gas, was on the rise, hitting above $6.50, simultaneously that in turn implied the supply of the commodity to the markets in the absence of Russian input is far short of the normal levels. The EU as a block was considering a blanket ban of Russian gas, despite it being highly con