Feb Brent prices hit a zenith of $76.57/bbl at 06:52 GMT and have since seen a substantial sell-off and currently sit at $73.10/bbl (as of 17:00 GMT, time of writing). WTI prices for the same tenor were also sold down today and are currently at $68.76/bbl. Brent crude is now at its lowest since June 2023 as the fundamental picture continues to discourage market participants. Making matters worse in the demand outlook has been recent data displaying a rise in US consumer prices in November, effectively discarding hopes of a shift to interest rate cuts by the US Fed early next year. It will be interesting to see what the Federal Reserve has to say about its plans for interest rates in Wednesday’s meeting – which the market is currently in anticipation of. The market will also be awaiting API and EIA stats on US crude and oil product inventories, both of which are due to be announced on Tuesday at 21:30 GMT and Wednesday at 15:30 GMT, respectively. At present, analysts are expecting a crude oil draw of around 1.5mbbls to be reported by both organisations. Finally, the front-month and six-month Brent spreads remain in contango at -$0.34 and -$0.76/bbl, respectively.
