Positive US Jobs Data Adds Bullish Sentiment to Market
May 9, 2022
Crude oil prices closed up on Friday due to continued supply concerns with the European Union attempting to ban Russian oil imports.
Also bullish for fuel demand, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports April’s good U.S. job data. However, this gives the Fed even more incentive to continue to raise interest rates which should put downward pressure on energy prices.
Questions remain on how the EU will get all 27 members to agree since some countries want more time to replace Russian supplies. Russia can still offset this loss by selling oil to China and India.
OPEC+ decided on May 4 to stick to its oil output quotas to raise oil output in June by an additional 432,000 BPD. However, OPEC+ has collectively been struggling to meet its oil output goals. In April, OPEC+ pumped 1.45 million BPD less than quotas allow due to lower oil output from Nigeria, Algeria, and Russia. Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Kuwait are increasing investment to increase production.
Baker Hughes reported that five crude oil rigs came online, bringing oil rigs up to 557 rigs. This is 213 more rigs online than last year at this time.