Oil Steadies as Traders Assess Prospect of Stockpile Release - Bloomberg

Oil Steadies as Traders Assess Prospect of Stockpile Release - Bloomberg

PRICES
West Texas Intermediate for January delivery added 0.5% to $76.33 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 9:22 a.m. London time after tumbling 3.7% on Friday. Futures lost 5.8% last week. Brent for January settlement rose 0.5% to $79.28 on the ICE Futures Europe exchange after declining 2.9% on Friday.

Oil steadied after four weeks of losses as traders weighed the chance that the U.S., China and Japan will tap national crude reserves as concerns over accelerating inflation intensify.

Futures in New York held above $76 a barrel after losing almost 6% last week. U.S. President Joe Biden has been talking about a possible release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for several weeks, and Japan’s TV Asahi reported Monday that Tokyo is preparing to release crude from its national stockpiles as part of a joint effort with the U.S.

The return of virus restrictions in Europe, meanwhile, suggests there could still be a threat to global energy demand from a resurgent Covid-19. Austria goes into a full lockdown on Monday, while Germany and other nations are cracking down on the unvaccinated as cases spike.