• 60/70 (Drum)-CIF Matadi

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CIF Douala

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CIF Cebu

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CIF Manila

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CFR Chennai

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CFR Cochin

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CFR Haldia

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CFR Kandla

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CFR Kolkata

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CFR Mundra

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CFR Nhava Sheva

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CFR Dalian

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CFR Hong Kong

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CFR Taicang

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CIF Brisbane

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CFR Ho Chi Minh

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CFR Kaohsiung

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CIF Durban

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CIF Djibouti

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CFR Yangon

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CFR Port Klang

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CFR Mombasa

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CFR Jakarta

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CFR Belawan

  • 60/70 (Drum)-CIF Navegantes

Weekly Bitumen Report: Oil Price Jump by US Relative Economic Improvement and Middle East Tension

August 15, 2024
3 minutes

During the last week, 3 European presidents expressed their worries about the Middle East tension through a common statement. They asked Iran to refrain from any retaliatory attacks against Israel to avoid any damage to the probable peace trend. In the meantime, concerns about Iran’s possible attack on Israel are growing daily.

On the other hand, Hamas announced that they will not participate in peace negotiations with Israel which is supposed to be held in Qatar on August 15.

Meanwhile, 2 years after Russia’s war against Ukraine, Ukraine’s army advanced in the Kursk region in Russia. In Belgorod, the region adjacent to Kursk, a state of emergency has also been declared. Ten days ago, the Ukrainian troops entered Kursk in a surprise operation by attacking Russian territory.

At the same time, with growing concerns about the onset of an economic recession in the U.S., the American stock market experienced its best day since November 2022 on Thursday, August 8. An unexpected decline in the unemployment index alleviated concerns about the sluggish U.S. economy, and the Asian markets also experienced a relative increase, recovering some of their losses from the previous week. After the announcement of the fall of Japan’s stock exchange market during the last week, the market is passing its worst days since 1987.

According to Reuters, crude oil prices increased by the release of a report about the reduction of crude oil reserves in the US and worries about the expansion of more tension in the Gaza strip and its effects on the oil supply in the world.

Danish Lim, an investment analyst at Phillip Nova stated that the American Petroleum Institute (API) announced that US crude oil reserves faced a significant decline of 5.2 million barrels which was much more than the predicted amount of 2 million barrels.  Besides, the API data shows a desirable oil demand as well.

He added, that there are still geopolitical risks as any probable tension in the Middle East is an increasing factor for the price of crude oil within the next weeks.

Besides, on August 14, ANZ Institute announced that a wider conflict in the Middle East could be a serious threat to oil passing through the strategic passage of the region. This issue can disrupt the daily supply of more than 20 million barrels of oil. However, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reduced its estimation of the growth in crude oil demand in 2025 under the influence of the weak economic situation of China on oil consumption.

On August 15, Brent crude oil closed at 79.93 USD and experienced a surge of around 2 USD compared to the beginning of 2024.

Singapore’s 180CST reached 468 USD. Bitumen prices in Singapore and South Korea were recorded at 489 and 415 USD, respectively.

As mentioned last week, bitumen prices in Bahrain dropped to 420 USD after a fall of 30 dollars.

The range of bitumen prices in Europe was reported at 420-490 USD.

In India, bitumen prices will probably remain at the same level and there will not be any changes in the refineries.

Bitumen prices in Iran improved as a result of competition among the refineries, the continuation of heat waves in the Persian Gulf, a reduction of working hours at the port, and slower port operation and congestion in Bandar Abbas and Jebel Ali. Any probable tension in the region can increase bitumen prices further.

To check the latest bitumen prices, visit https://infinitygalaxy.org/bitumen-price-today/.

This article was prepared by Razieh Gilani, the export manager of Infinity Galaxy.

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