WTI = purple, Brent = Yellow
Looking at global happenings
Late last week, crude oil prices hit a 15-month low as news spread of the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, instilling fears throughout Wall Street of more banking troubles to come in the near future.
At the low on Friday, Brent and WTI crude were off roughly $3 a barrel, sinking to a level last seen December 2021. After coming off the steep slide last week, crude markets were able to find their footing yesterday and today, settling up over 3% from Friday’s settle. Fear remains one of the largest movers of the oil markets, with supply and demand taking more of a backseat.
In more oil-related news, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and producer allies, including Russia (known as OPEC+), are planning to meet on April 3, 2023. OPEC meetings, historically, have played a huge role in the direction of crude, as well as refined products, but the impact of this meeting may be diluted heavily due to the world digesting the banking news. During OPEC’s last meeting in October, the group agreed to cut oil production by two million barrels per day for the entirety of 2023. Many industries will be on the edge of their seat to see the outcome of this latest OPEC meeting and just what impact it’ll leave on the markets.
A few questions remain:
- How long will fear overtake the market?
- When will crude and refined products reverse course and return to their early March levels?
Market pullbacks will create buying opportunities. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to your Guttman sales representative to provide solutions to your fuel buying needs.
