Oil trades mixed and Bitcoin lands again: Oil was mixed late in trading on Friday,
as traders assessed risks in terms of supply and demand, and prices support the concern that Russia’s supplies continued to be disrupted by the war in Ukraine,
while China shows no signs of easing the spread of the coronavirus.

Evest follows market developments in the following report.

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Oil trades mixed

Reports of EU cancellation of Russian oil imports support oil

Bitcoin hit hard by the Fed’s tough stance

Oil trades mixed

Brent crude futures for June delivery rose by $1.75, or 1.6%, to settle at $109.34 per barrel.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures for June delivery fell by 67 cents or 0.75% or $0.6 per barrel.

Over the week, WTI and the global benchmark rose 2.6 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively,
based on next month’s futures, and posted their fifth consecutive monthly gain.

Brent ended the month gaining 1.3%, while WTI closed 4.4% higher.

The above-mentioned market reaction followed three consecutive days of oil futures gains,
with US crude and Brent futures rising 3.3 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively, on Thursday.

“The increase since yesterday is due to the growing likelihood of the EU imposing an oil embargo on Russia for the time being after Germany stopped opposing such actions, as media reported yesterday,” said Carsten Fritsch, energy analyst at Commerzbank Research, in a note on Friday.

The Wall Street Journal quoted government officials as saying that Germany’s representative of European Union institutions had lifted objections to a total ban on Russian supplies on the condition that Berlin was given sufficient time to find alternative supplies.

The news reignited concerns about scarce supplies.

In the meantime, traders continue to assess the impact of Covid-19 on fuel demand forecasts with signs of downward demand factors.

China shows no sign of easing lockdown actions that have hurt its economy and global supply chain.

Reports of EU cancellation of Russian oil imports support oil

Oil prices rose for the fourth consecutive day as concern over Russian supply disruptions beats expectations of lower demand in China.

Brent crude rose by 1.7% to $109.40 per barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude rose by 1.03% to $106.50 per barrel.

Both futures are due to expire during the week and mark their fifth consecutive monthly gain,
supported by reports that the European Union (EU) will phase out Russian oil imports by the end of the year.

Germany – the bloc’s largest economy – has abandoned its opposition to the action,
which is being considered for inclusion in the possible sixth package of sanctions imposed on Russia
by the European Union after its invasion of Ukraine in February.

Prices have been volatile for the past two months, peaking at 14-year highs of $139 a barrel in early March
before falling below $100 later that month as advanced economies grappled with potential supply shortages.

sanctions on Russian energy supplies

The United States and the United Kingdom’s choice to impose sanctions on Russian energy supplies has caused prices to rise,
exacerbated by tight markets as OPEC + continues to fail to increase production in line with its modest increase of 400 barrels per day.

Under calls from the West to increase supply, the United States and members of the International Energy Agency (IEA) responded by choosing to flood the market with 240 million barrels – causing prices to fall as President Joe Biden seeks to contain the cost of living in crisis ahead of this year’s major midterm elections.

The recent rise in both key benchmarks has been affected by the continued COVID-19 lockdown in China, the world’s largest crude oil importer.

The state has shown no signs of easing lockdown actions in Shanghai, although its economy and global supply chains have been affected.

However, prices are likely to remain high anyway, as concern over supply shortages continues to escalate.

Russian oil production

Russian oil production could fall by as much as 17% this year, according to documents seen by Reuters,
due to damage to investments and exports as a result of Western sanctions.

This reality reflects what Exxon Mobil revealed earlier this week
that the Russian unit Exxon Neftegas has declared a compelling state of its operations in Sakhalin.

Sakhalin’s project produces Sokol crude oil off the coast of Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East,
and exports about 273,000 barrels per day, mainly to South Korea, Japan, Australia, Thailand and the United States.

The energy giant revealed last month that it would take out about $4 billion in assets and stop all of its operations in Russia, including Sakhalin.

In the meantime, OPEC + is likely to abide by its current agreement and agree to another small increase in production for June when it meets on May 5.

Bitcoin hit hard by the Fed’s tough stance

Bitcoin has been hit hard by the Fed’s tough stance on rate hikes at the next Fed meeting on May 2-3, 2022.

As bitcoin moves further downward since January as higher borrowing rates reduce investors’ appetite for high-risk assets.

Today’s global cryptocurrency market value is $1.8 trillion, down 2.8% in the last 24 hours.

Today’s total cryptocurrency trading volume is $98.6 billion, with bitcoin dominating 40.2% and Ethereum dominating 18.6%.

According to CoinGecko’s report, Bitcoin faced a particularly difficult sale to the point of erasing the $39,000-mark,
trading at $38,042.81, down 1.5% on Sunday.

While the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, fell by 1.3% and traded at $2,776.88.

Broadly speaking, the cryptocurrency market was in the red zone.

Oil trades mixed and Bitcoin lands again

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