On the evening of April 22, Beijing time, international crude oil futures that experienced “Black Monday” and set a new record at a negative settlement price ushered in a comprehensive rebound. WTI June crude oil futures rose 40%, returning to above 16 US dollars / barrel, the global oil price benchmark, London Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) June delivery of Brent crude oil futures rose to 16%. As of press time, the gains of the two oil companies have narrowed. The WTI June contract reported US $ 15.1 per barrel, and Brent crude oil futures reported US $ 20.9 per barrel.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released the latest crude oil inventory data that evening, and the EIA crude oil inventory recorded an increase of 1502.2 barrels in the week of April 17 to 5 in 2017 The highest level since the month, the previous value increased by 19.24 million barrels, is expected to increase by 15.15 million barrels. U.S. crude oil inventories have increased by more than 10 million barrels for five consecutive weeks. WTI crude oil futures delivery and Oklahoma Cushing crude oil inventories have increased for 7 consecutive weeks. Gasoline inventories increased to a record high last week. After the data was released, US oil futures fell.
From afternoon to evening that day, many oil-producing countries voiced the unprecedented oil market turmoil since this week, indicating their willingness to stabilize the oil market. International Energy Agency (IEA) Director Fatih Birol revealed in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Wednesday that OPEC and non-OPEC (OPEC +) may wish to consider further production cuts to balance the oil market. “It is recommended that OPEC + cut production as soon as possible.”
Tass News Agency quoted Russian Energy Minister Novak as saying that the world is currently in the most severe stage of decline in crude oil demand, and it is expected that global oil demand will decrease by 20 million barrels per day to 30 million barrels per day. OPEC + and other oil-producing countries’ oil production cuts may reach 15 million barrels per day to 20 million barrels per day in May, which will improve the situation in the oil market.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin predicted that oil prices will rise in the summer and rise back to $ 30 / barrel in August. In an interview with Fox Business News, he said that he “never thought” that he would see the first negative oil price in history at the beginning of this week. The Trump administration is studying new ways to support US oil producers.
According to the Wall Street Journal, an unnamed Saudi Aramco executive said that Saudi Arabia is currently facing a serious oil storage crisis and some oil fields have been shut down, such as Ghawar Oilfield (Ghawar) etc. The source said that Saudi Arabia ’s oil storage space was quickly exhausted, which forced Saudi Aramco to consider new measures to prevent oil prices from plummeting.
OPEC issued a tweet early this morning, saying that some energy ministers of OPEC and non-OPEC oil-producing countries held an emergency video conference call to discuss the turbulence of the crude oil market. The official message did not mention any New policies related to bailout. The oil-producing countries reaffirmed their previous commitments to reduce production and agreed to hold similar meetings regularly to discuss the market situation. The participating countries include Algeria, Venezuela, Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Saudi Arabia did not attend the meeting. It is reported that some countries expressed that they hope to implement the production reduction agreement reached by OPEC + oil-producing countries in advance, rather than implementing the agreement as originally planned on May 1.