Markets

A sharp jump in futures prices for NYMEX WTI and ICE Brent after US commercial crude stocks sank to a nine-month low brought the western crude benchmarks to highs not seen since Aug. and Nov., respectively, of 2022.

Even though supply concerns were exacerbated by a new ban on exports from Russia, futures prices for benchmark crudes saw week-on-week decreases for the first time in four weeks.

The market continued to digest the previous week's news of supply cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia, pushing up futures prices for benchmark crudes to ten- and eleven-month highs.

The decisions by Saudi Arabia and Russia to prolong their supply cuts through the end of 2023 helped futures prices for benchmark crudes to tick off second consecutive week-on-week increases.

Persistently tightening supplies and an easing of concerns over demand pushed futures prices for Brent, WTI, and Oman crudes to highs not seen since Nov.

Concerns over demand gripped the market during Monday through Wednesday, but then news of tightening gasoil inventories in Europe and soaring diesel prices in the US led a recovery on Thursday and Friday.

For the first three days of the period, concerns about the post-COVID economic recovery in China grabbed traders' attention.

For the third consecutive week, futures prices for ICE Brent, NYMEX WTI, and DME Oman crudes saw their longest streaks of week-on-week increases in over a year.

For the second period in a row, futures prices for ICE Brent, NYMEX WTI, and DME Oman crudes saw their longest streaks of week-on-week increases in over a year.

Futures prices for ICE Brent, NYMEX WTI, and DME Oman crudes saw their longest streaks of week-on-week increases in over a year during the period ending July 28 as traders continued to focus on tightening supplies.