Oil held near the highest close in five weeks ahead of testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that will provide clues on the path forward for monetary tightening.
(Bloomberg) — Oil held near the highest close in five weeks ahead of testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that will provide clues on the path forward for monetary tightening.
West Texas Intermediate traded above $80 a barrel after advancing for five sessions. Powell will begin two days of semiannual testimony before Senate and House committees in Washington later Tuesday. It will likely be his last public remarks before the Federal Open Market Committee meets March 21-22.
Crude has endured a bumpy year, whipsawed by concerns over further interest rate hikes from the Fed and a bullish outlook for Chinese demand following the end of Covid Zero.
However, the world’s top oil importer has set a cautious economic growth target this year, denting some optimism in the outlook. Its crude imports eased at the start of the year as refiners slowed purchases before the Lunar New Year holiday, government data released Tuesday show.
“Volatility is on the floor, the market’s pretty dead,” said Keshav Lohiya, founder of consultant Oilytics Ltd. “The question is will the buying ramp up in the second half of the year.”
Traders are also tracking Russian energy flows following sanctions over the nation’s war in Ukraine. Russia’s seaborne crude exports fell sharply last week from previous highs as shipments from its Pacific ports declined, vessel-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Kazakhstan is struggling to find ample crude supplies to meet requests from European countries that are seeking to curb their dealings with Russia. Germany is expected to receive about 40,000 tons of piped deliveries this quarter, state oil pipeline operator KazTransOil said. That’s about 90% of the original planned volume.
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