Oil Rally Slows as U.S. Hints at Actions to Quell Rising Prices - Bloomberg

Oil Rally Slows as U.S. Hints at Actions to Quell Rising Prices - Bloomberg

PRICES:
WTI for December delivery rose 66 cents to settle at $81.93 a barrel in New York. Brent for January settlement added 69 cents to close at $83.43 a barrel

Oil eked out a gain on Monday as Saudi Arabia is raising prices, but the rally cooled after the U.S. signaled measures to ease oil and gasoline prices.

Futures in New York closed 0.8% higher, paring gains of as much as 1.7% earlier in the session. U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said that President Biden may make an announcement to address high oil and gasoline prices this week. Granholm didn’t specify any particular measures, but the U.S. has said that releasing crude from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is one option it’s considering to cool prices.

Still, prices were supported by the biggest increases to some of Saudi Arabia’s official selling prices in decades at the end of last week. Asian buyers will probably take their full contractual volumes of oil next month, despite the higher costs, signaling a strong market.

The markets traded sideways throughout most of the afternoon, waiting to see if the U.S. would release crude from the strategic reserves and if so, how much. Only a coordinated effort from the U.S. with other consumer countries could substantially bring prices down, said John Kilduff, founding partner at Again Capital LLC