As a result of the Shanghai lockdowns, oil prices are continuing to fall

 

Oil prices fell further on Monday, owing to concerns that continued COVID-19 lockdowns in Shanghai and expected rate hikes in the United States would stifle global economic development and fuel demand. At 0015 GMT, Brent crude prices were down $1.90, or 1.8 percent, to $104.75 a barrel, while WTI crude futures were down $1.89, or 1.9 percent, to $100.18 a barrel. Last week, demand concerns caused the benchmarks to drop nearly 5%.

“As China resumed lockdowns in Shanghai and investors anticipated for a succession of US rate hikes, bearish sentiment outweighed concerns about constrained global supply,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research at Nissan Securities. Investors are attempting to alter their positions ahead of the start of the summer driving season in the United States later in May, he said. “However, due to the risk of a potential European Union ban on Russian oil amid a deepening Ukraine crisis, oil prices are not projected to fall below $90 a barrel,” he said.

Shanghai authorities are erecting barriers outside residential buildings to combat a COVID-19 epidemic, generating further public outrage over a lockdown that has confined majority of the city’s 25 million inhabitants indoors.

When the Federal Reserve meets in May to approve the next in what is likely to be a succession of hikes this year, Chairman Jerome Powell has said that a half-point increase “will be on the table.”

 

On the supply side, U.S. energy companies added oil and natural gas rigs for the fifth week in a row, despite high prices and government pushing. Three individuals familiar with the port loading plan told Reuters on Friday that the Russia-Kazakh Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) was restarting full exports from April 22 after over 30 days of disruptions due to maintenance to one of its key loading facilities.

Nonetheless, other analysts believe that the deepening crisis in Ukraine will increase pressure on the EU to impose sanctions on Russian oil, and that prices will rise later this year. Russia is Europe’s leading gas provider and, behind Saudi Arabia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter. Morgan Stanley increased its Brent pricing projection for the third quarter to $130 per barrel, noting a “larger shortfall” this year due to weaker supply from Russia and Iran, which is expected to balance short-term demand challenges.