Oil falls to its lowest since January
- Over the past few weeks, oil has strung together several negative sessions that have erased all the gains made in 2022. At the beginning of the week, Brent crude was trading at $82 (the lowest since January 2022), although as the week progressed, it managed a small rebound.
- Oil has been punished for several weeks by the increase in restrictions in China to deal with the spike in contagions that the Asian country is suffering. Oil prices are very sensitive to China’s movements, as it is the world’s main oil importer. In addition, China’s progressive restrictions have led to several violent revolts by people showing their dissatisfaction with the Chinese government.
- On the other hand, the US government has authorized Chevron to partially resume crude oil extraction in Venezuela, which translates into an increase in supply.
- Finally, crude oil may have several movements towards the end of the year, since OPEC+ will meet on Sunday to agree on its next production level, and, in the meantime, the EU is studying what the cap on Russian oil will be.
- Source: Financial Times