More Barrels of Crude Oil Released From US Strategic Petroleum Reserve
January 3, 2022
The Baker Hughes Rig Count had oil rigs unchanged at a total of 480 and last year there were 267 oil rigs.
Despite some of us not working on Friday the market was open so there was some trading. Prices were lower with crude down roughly 2.2% and refined fuel products down 3.0%. The retreat in crude comes after 7 straight trading sessions in which WTI crude oil had gained so some profit-taking is not unexpected. The energy markets opened up and traded higher to start this week and are now about even on the day as the concern about the Omicron variant still lingers over the market.
Four sources stated that OPEC and its allies will likely stick to their existing policy of modest monthly increases in oil output at their meeting this week.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz said the OPEC+ production agreement was essential to oil market stability and stressed the need for producers to comply with the pact.
There are more outlooks now that see supply outpacing demand for calendar 2022. This will continue to be a debated subject. The impact to demand from COVID and the impact of inflation as well will be big factors.
The US Department of Energy said it had approved a release of 2 million barrels of crude oil from the SPR to Exxon Mobil Corp as a part of the early plan to try and reduce gasoline prices. The Energy Department said they have now released a total of over 7 million barrels of crude from its reserve to increase the nation’s fuel supply.