Shanghai blockade pushes gasoline prices down

Reuters reported, oil prices continued to fall on April 25 amid concerns that the prolonged blockade in Shanghai (China) and the possibility of US interest rate hikes will reduce fuel demand and slow down global economic growth.

Crude oil futures fell $1.90, or 1.8%, to $104.75 a barrel at 7:15 a.m. Vietnam time, while WTI oil prices fell $1.89, or 1.9%, to 100. .18 USD/barrel.

Two stats oil prices The aforementioned lost nearly 5% last week due to demand concerns.

The Shanghai authorities are fighting a bad COVID-19 outbreak. On April 24, Shanghai recorded a total of 21,058 new COVID-19 cases, 39 deaths – a record number of deaths in a day. The city implemented a strict blockade, forcing most of its 25 million residents to stay indoors.

While, Beijing are also racing to stamp out the COVID-19 outbreak that may have spread in the capital for a week. On April 24, China’s national health authority said there were 22 new cases recorded in Beijing. Capital authorities are tracking cases across multiple districts and involving students, tour groups and interior decorators.

“The city has recently seen several outbreaks involving multiple chains of infection, the risk of continued and undetected spread is very high. The situation is urgent and dire. The whole city. must act immediately,” city official Tian Wei told reporters.

Hiroyuki Kikukawa, head of research at Nissan Securities, said: “Concern about global supply tightening as China closed in Shanghai and investors braced for a series of US rate hikes.”

US Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell has indicated that a half-point rate hike “will be on the table” when the Fed meets in May to approve what is followed by a series of hikes in the coming weeks. this year.

According to Mr. Kikukawa, investors are trying to adjust before the peak gasoline season in the US starts at the end of May. However, Mr. Kikukawa thinks that oil prices are not expected to fall below $90/ barrels due to the European Union (EU) may embargo Russian oil in the context of the deepening Ukraine crisis.

In terms of petroleum supplies, US energy companies added oil and natural gas rigs for the fifth consecutive week amid high prices and government pressure.

In Europe, the Russia-Kazakhstan Caspian Pipeline Union (CPC) resumed full exports from April 22 after a nearly 30-day hiatus to repair one of the main loading and unloading facilities damaged by the storm.

However, some analysts say the worsening crisis in Ukraine could put pressure on the EU to impose sanctions on Russian oil and that oil prices could move higher later this year.

Russia is the supplier gas Europe’s leading oil exporter and the second largest oil exporter in the world after Saudi Arabia.

Morgan Stanley raised its third-quarter Brent oil price forecast by $10 to $130 a barrel, citing a “larger deficit” this year due to supply from Russia and Iran decreased.