Weekly Oil Report: Conflict of Market Directions in Crude and Petroleum Products

Crude oil had another sharp decline but bitumen stayed confused with the trend. Brent closed at $83.79 and WTI settled at $76.53 on Friday, 25 Nov. Watch the technical analysis of WTI: https://youtu.be/0QtVweQMQ2w The third week ended for oil with a sharper fall. The downward momentum is strong and we can expect lower prices in the upcoming days. The double top pattern is getting completed and WTI can fall to about 73. It is the end of 2022, and OPEC will hold its last meeting on the 1st of December. The cartel has stated that they will continue the production cut for December as was agreed before. Yet, there are talks about a slight boost in production in January 2023. China is in a struggle with zero covid policies. The increasing number of covid cases is dampening the demand outlook of the country. Anti-lockdown protests are spreading quickly and some are asking Xi Jinping to resign. G7 is trying to set the price cap for Russian oil between 65 – 70. It is unlikely for the proposed range to have any significant effect on Moscow’s revenues since Asian countries are already buying at these prices with the “big discount’. Bitumen markets show mixed signals in different regions. The price and demand are increasing in the Mediterranean areas while it is reducing in Asia. Accordingly, prices in the Middle East have been increasing when Singapore HSFO fell under $400 on Friday, 25 Nov. Below, you can check several bitumen prices in different regions.