Oil Up On Syria Turmoil, China Bracing For Trump Takeover

But trading remains stubbornly rangebound despite bullish flags: File Image/Pixabay

Oil trading on Monday was given a mild boost by the fall over the weekend of Syria's president Bashar al-Assa, as well as by China easing its monetary policy stance for the first time in 14 years.

Brent settled up $1.02 at $72.14 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate settled up $1.17 at $68.37.

China's Politburo said it would implement a "moderately loose" monetary policy and pursue a more proactive fiscal policy, which some analysts theorized was inspired by fear over future trade relations with hard line U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.

As for Assad's fall after years of civil war in Syria, Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, said in a note, "The fall of Syria's government is stirring the geopolitical pot in the Middle East, posing potential implications for Russia and Iran, both staunch allies of Syria."

Jorge Leon, an analyst at Rystad Energy, offered a different take on the matter: he wrote in a note that, "This could embolden the upcoming Donald Trump administration to go for a 'maximum pressure' stance against Iran."

Ship tracking data showed a possible early sign of oil market disruption due to the fall of Syria's government, with a tanker carrying Iranian oil to Syria turned round in the Red Sea to head away from its original destination.

Meanwhile, another sign of weak demand that may influence trading this week was Saudi Arabia deciding to lower the official selling prices for refiners in Asia, which buy about 70 percent of the kingdom's crude.

The price for the benchmark Arab Light grade for January-loading cargoes was reduced to a premium of 90 cents per barrel over the Oman/Dubai average, down 80 cents from a premium of $1.70 for December – the lowest premium since the Covid lockdowns.

Despite Monday's busy news day rife with bullish news, Bloomberg pointed out that "Monday's gain wasn't enough to take oil out of the roughly $6-a-barrel range it has traded in since mid-October."