World News
Oil Steadies As Optimism Grows Over U.S./China Trade Relations
A weaker U.S. dollar was mainly responsible for oil prices eking out modest gains on Thursday, but not nearly enough to erase the significant losses incurred in previous sessions.
Brent settled up 43 cents at $66.55 per barrel, and West Texas Intermediate settled up 52 cents at $62.79.
It was unclear if the collapse of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine affected trading, ditto Moscow bombing Kyiv with missiles an drones overnight; but European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said her organization will soon present a roadmap on keeping an EU pledge to quit Russian fossil fuels by 2027.
For the record, Russia can expect its oil and gas revenues for April to slump by 22 percent from a year ago, due to lower oil prices and a stronger local currency, and following a 17 percent plunge in revenues in March; revenues from hydrocarbons are set to be about $11.6 billion in April, also due to lower profit-based taxes compared to the previous month.
Meanwhile, optimism was generated by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, which reported that Washington may reduce tariffs on Chinese goods by up to 50 percent in order to facilitate negotiations for a trade deal.
U.S. president Donald Trump said, "If we don't reach a deal, we're simply setting the price — then it's up to them to decide if they want to proceed," and he added that the current 145 percent rate remains in effect due to a lack of trade activity with China.
In other oil news on Thursday, U.S. energy secretary Chris Wright told media "$50 oil is not sustainable for producers."
This was a massive about-faced from 10 days ago, when Wright praised the industry's resilience and declared that shale could boost production even if oil slumped to $50.
Key Bunker Prices More
| VLSFO | MGO | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $/mt | +/- | $/mt | +/- | |
| Singapore | 502.00 | 4.50 | 617.00 | 5.50 |
| Rotterdam | 457.50 | 2.50 | 623.50 | 6.50 |
| Houston | 469.00 | 3.50 | 623.00 | 2.00 |
| Fujairah | 494.50 | 6.50 | 715.50 | 5.50 |
| Global 20 Ports Average | 526.00 | 3.00 | 712.50 | 11.50 |
| Global 4 Ports Average | 481.00 | 4.00 | 645.00 | 4.50 |
| Global Average Bunker Price | 569.00 | 2.00 | 750.00 | 5.50 |
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