Weekly Oil Repot: Weakness Shadow over the Market

Oil climbed despite the weakness while bitumen stayed almost steady in most of the regions.

Brent oil closed at $85.36 and WTI settled at $80.00 on Jan 13.

On the daily chart of WTI, the price is near the top line of the wedge. You can see the possible resistances on the chart. Price had a precise reaction to the resistance on 80.11.

On a wider perspective of the chart, a rising 2 year trend is clearly broken and the price is now fluctuating between two yellow lines. It is possible that WTI see a slightly higher price near the upper line and then continues falling during the week.

The economic outlook of 2023 looks to be dim. The US is fighting against 8% inflation by constantly increasing the interest rates. The Ukraine war is still going while it was supposed to end only in days. The price of food and fuel are increasing violently. These are only several fears of the year ahead. No one knows what will happen for sure but it will definitely be a difficult year.

Reports from China show that Covid infection has risen drastically. The quick spread of the virus is frightening other countries for another pandemic. Many was expecting China to return to the market with its full potential in 2023 but if the virus continues to spread, the country might be in danger.

The US is also facing a challenge for refilling the SPR after it released 220 million barrels in 2022. With lower prices of oil, it will be easier to budget the refill.

Bitumen prices fluctuated differently in various regions. For instance, it was almost unchanged in Singapore and South Korea but In the Middle East it has a slight decrease. While Iran experienced even more volatilities due to the changes of dollar.

India also implemented more decrease on its bitumen prices in mid-January.

Below, you can check several bitumen prices in different regions.