published Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC)Weekly developments in global oil markets, in light of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, as crude oil futures prices fell for the third week in a row, heading towards recording the largest quarterly losses in percentage since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
Oil prices were negatively affected by:
US inflation indicators rose unexpectedly, which means the possibility of the US Federal Reserve continuing its policy of raising interest rates. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund warned of a global economic stagnation.
The expectations of the International Energy Agency about the halt in the growth of global demand for oil during the last quarter of the current year 2022, amid renewed closures, which may cause a contraction in Chinese demand for the first time since 2002.
US commercial oil stocks rose for the second week, with the continued withdrawal of strategic stocks, which recorded their lowest level since October 1984.
The rise in the US dollar index, which measures its performance against a basket of 6 major currencies, made crude oil more expensive in other currencies.
Avoiding the possibility of labor disruption on US rail lines, which would damage fuel supplies inside and outside the United States.
– Oil prices received support from growing concerns about the lack of global oil supplies with the approach of winter, especially with the imminent start of the European embargo on Russian oil imports in December, and the dwindling of expectations of the return of Iranian oil exports to the market in the near term.
The International Energy Agency expects a large-scale shift from the use of natural gas to oil and its products for heating, due to higher prices during the winter season.
A temporary suspension of Iraqi oil exports from Mina al-Bakr in the Basra region, due to a limited oil leak that was controlled.