On Thursday, international oil prices fell by more than 4% on news that the United States was considering releasing up to 180 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the largest scale in the past 50 years.

On Thursday (March 31), international oil prices fell by more than 4% due to news that the United States is considering releasing up to 180 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the largest scale in the past 50 years. once. The Biden administration is also considering temporarily lifting restrictions on summer sales of high-ethanol gasoline blends.

At 16:14 Beijing time, NYMEX crude oil futures fell 4.48% to US$102.99/barrel; ICE Brent crude oil futures fell 3.59% to US$107.44/barrel.

A spokesman for New Zealand's energy minister said on Thursday that International Energy Agency (IEA) member states will meet at 20:00 Beijing time on Friday (April 1) to decide on a collective release of oil. "The size of the potential release has not yet been determined, and the meeting will set the total amount and then allocate it to each country."

Biden will give a speech later on Thursday and is expected to announce the plan to lower gasoline prices. It's unclear whether the release of U.S. stockpiles will be part of a broader global coordinated effort. Affected by the Russo-Ukrainian war, gasoline prices have reached record levels.

Warren Patterson, head of commodity strategy at ING, said: “If there are really so many, that’s a pretty big number and it will definitely help fill some of the gaps, but Not all. Another key question is whether this size will be part of a broader coordinated release of reserves. "The top priority is to fill the gap in the real economy," said Howie Lee, an economist at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation in Singapore. Releasing crude oil in China would only provide short-term relief and would simply shift the shortage from one pocket to another. Sources from OPEC and its partners said on Wednesday (March 30) that the alliance could. We will adhere to the existing agreement to gradually increase oil production. OPEC Secretary-General Barkindo also expressed support for this view.

Russia is one of the world's largest oil producers, contributing approximately 10% to the global market. However, the International Energy Agency said that sanctions and reduced buyer willingness to purchase may result in about 3 million barrels per day of Russian oil (3, 0.00, 0.00%) being expelled from the international market starting in April.

The latest data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that the inventory of U.S. oil depots dropped by 3.449 million barrels in the week ending March 25, a decline significantly greater than the market estimate of 2 million barrels.

The Biden administration is also considering temporarily lifting restrictions on summer sales of high-ethanol gasoline blends to lower fuel costs for U.S. consumers, people familiar with the matter said. Adding more ethanol to the gasoline mix could lower U.S. retail prices at the pump, since ethanol made from corn is currently cheaper than pure gasoline.

Original title: International oil prices fell by more than 4%, and the Biden administration in the United States is preparing to launch unprecedented measures

Source: Huitong.com