Oil falls as demands fears outweigh stimulus efforts
- by Emilio Sims
- in Money
- — Mar 29, 2020
Oil markets traded lower Friday, as market participants continue to fret about the powerful combination of deepening demand destruction and massive oversupply.
US crude settled down $1.09, or 4.82% at $21.51 a barrel. As such, it still remains eligible for the Federal Reserve's new backstop facility for investment-grade rated corporate debt.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its de facto leader Saudi Arabia this month failed to reach agreement with other producers, including Russian Federation, to curb oil production to support prices.
Oil prices collapsed to their lowest levels in decades in March amid coronavirus concerns and OPEC+'s failure to reach a deal on production cuts, which prompted Riyadh and its allies to open the taps.
Based on contacts "we see that if the number of OPEC+ members will increase and other countries will join there is a possibility of a joint agreement to balance oil markets", said Dmitriev.
"It does not seem as though there is anything the Saudis or the broader OPEC+ group can do to push the market significantly higher", said ING analyst Warren Patterson.
Oil posted a fifth straight week of losses amid fear of more demand destruction as USA cities and businesses braced for a greater shutdown after America eclipsed China as the nation with the largest number of coronavirus infections.
Traders also told the WSJ that Russian Federation - the oil exporter whose market share Saudi Arabia has been most keen to capture, has been able to compensate some of the decline in exports to Europe by redirecting them to China, a country where demand has been enjoying a slow recovery amid that country's efforts to fight the pandemic.
Brent crude settled down $1.41, or 5.35% at $24.93 a barrel.
The United States President- Donald Trump had time and again reminded the market concerning overvalued oil prices, which has impacted many businesses across different geographies via leading to a higherbusiness cost.
WTI crude oil has plunged 66 percent from its January 6 high, putting pressure on USA shale producers who on aggregate need oil in the upper $40s to be profitable.
