Oil Prices on Rollercoaster as USD Rebounds and Supply Concerns Ease

Oil prices had bumpy ride on Thursday. Crude was on the decline at 9am in the morning, but the bounce in US stocks pulled oil out of sessions lows. The bounce did not last long and by 2pm West Texas Intermediate was trading below $69 with Brent holding on to gains a little better at $79.67.


West Texas Intermediate graph

Oil prices are caught between supply concerns triggered by geopolitics and rising stockpiles in the US with a possible supply rise by other major producers. The US sanctions against Iran boosted prices even as the Trump administration tried to convince OPEC members to drive costs down. The latest diplomatic turmoil surrounding missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi puts Saudi Arabia under intense focus from global leaders.


West Texas Intermediate graph

US weekly inventories released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday showed a larger than expected buildup that further depreciated oil prices. Growth concerns as trade disputes are not resolved have started to impact energy demand even as supply is tighter.

Weather and geopolitics have been the main factors behind supply disruptions, and without a significant change upward to demand, crude will be more sensitive to political events, specially if it’s based on a major producer.

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.

Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza