2023-12-29 16:03:52
Oil prices are heading to end 2023 down by about 10 percent, recording the first annual decline in two years, after geopolitical concerns, production cuts, and global measures to curb inflation caused sharp price fluctuations.
In addition, Brent crude futures rose 33 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $77.48 per barrel today, Friday, the last trading day in 2023, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures increased 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $71.97.
Oil prices stabilized after falling three percent the previous day as more shipping companies prepared to cross the Red Sea, and major companies suspended the use of this route after the Yemeni Houthi group began targeting ships.
Thus, the two benchmarks are heading to end the year at the lowest end-of-year level since 2020, when the Corona pandemic undermined demand and led to a decline in prices.
The OPEC+ production cut was not enough to support prices, with the prices of the two standard crude oils falling by approximately 20 percent from their highest level this year.
Oil’s weak performance at the end of the year contrasts with global stocks, which are on track to end 2023 on the rise.
The dollar fell
In the currency market, the dollar has declined, and is heading towards a 2 percent decline this year after two years of achieving strong gains.
Sector officials say that the expected cut in interest rates, which may reduce borrowing costs in major consumption areas, and the weak dollar, which makes oil less expensive for foreign buyers, may boost demand in 2024.
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A Archyde.com survey of the opinions of 30 economists and analysts expects the average price of Brent crude to reach $84.43 per barrel in 2024, compared to an average of about $80 per barrel this year and high levels of more than $100 in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Russian oil
Meanwhile, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “Her government will continue to buy oil from Russia,” adding in a conversation with students, “I do believe that global oil prices are falling,” adding, “We are continuing our purchases from Russia and that will continue.”
It is noteworthy that last Wednesday, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said, “Most of Russian oil exports this year were shipped to China and India, after Moscow quickly directed its supplies away from Europe in response to the economic sanctions imposed by the West.”
Novak, who is responsible for the country’s energy sector, added to the official “Russia-24” channel that “Moscow has succeeded in avoiding the sanctions imposed on its oil and diverting its flows from Europe to China and India, which together receive about 90 percent of Russian crude exports,” noting that Russia has begun Already forming relationships with Asia-Pacific countries before the West imposed sanctions on Moscow after the conflict began in Ukraine in February 2022.
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