World oil prices' first mixed week of the year

Brent oil price this week exceeded 87 USD/barrel at one point. Illustration photo: Oil and Gas Group

In the first trading session of the week on March 18 (Vietnam time), oil prices increased in the context of drone attacks from Ukraine that severely affected Russia's oil refining capacity. This affected the global oil supply and promoted strong buying power in the oil market.

The rise in oil prices continued into the session on March 19 (Vietnam time) because Iraq - OPEC's second largest producer - said it would reduce crude oil exports to 3.3 million barrels/day in the coming months to compensate for exceeding OPEC+ quotas since January.

Positive oil demand data in China and the US and the extension of voluntary production cuts by OPEC+ until the end of June supported oil prices to a five-month high in the session on March 20 (Vietnam time).

Oil prices recorded a mixed week with Brent crude increasing and WTI crude decreasing. Illustration photo: Oil and Gas Group

Brent crude oil prices are likely to trade at $80-$90 a barrel this year, according to SEB Research analyst Bjarne Schieldrop.

The Fed's decision to keep interest rates at 5.25% to 5.5% pushed oil prices down in the trading session on March 21 (Vietnam time).

Oil prices continued to fall on March 22 (Vietnam time) due to weaker demand for gasoline. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said that crude oil inventories in the US continued to decrease for the second consecutive week, down 2 million barrels to 445 million barrels.

Gasoline inventories fell for a seventh straight week, falling 3.3 million barrels to 230.8 million barrels. Meanwhile, gasoline product supplies, a proxy for product demand, fell below 9 million barrels.

In the last trading session of the week on March 23 (Vietnam time), oil prices fell amid market expectations that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza would help boost supply.

Thus, for the whole week, Brent oil increased by 0.3%, WTI oil decreased by 0.4%.

Domestic retail prices of gasoline on March 24 are as follows: E5 RON 92 gasoline is no more than VND 23,219/liter; RON 95-III gasoline is no more than VND 24,284/liter; diesel oil is no more than VND 21,014/liter; kerosene is no more than VND 21,266/liter; fuel oil is no more than VND 17,099/kg.

Source: https://laodong.vn/kinh-doanh/tuan-trai-chieu-dau-tien-cua-gia-dau-the-gioi-trong-nam-1318769.ldo