Having edged above the $83/bbl handles in the day, the May Brent futures contract seems poised to end the afternoon lower, trading at $82.10/bbl at 16.45 GMT. EIA stats released in the afternoon saw US crude inventories rise by over
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Rangebound prices have been the outcome of the fortnight. Volatility is down and players have been all but absent, celebrating the Lunar New Year and the in-progress IE week.
The May Brent futures contract rose into the afternoon, climbing from $81.30/bbl handles at noon today to $82.20/bbl as of 17:15 GMT (time of writing). WTI futures for the same tenor clocked in similar strength, moving from around $76.80/bbl at noon to $77.70/bbl at 17:15 GMT.
After ending on a high note on Feb 26, the May Brent futures contract kept its upward momentum with prices hovering around the $81.50/bbl mark.
In Brent, May prices strengthened slightly over the past week with the RSI also showing signs of upward momentum as it crossed overbought territory on Feb 22, at 79. The May RBOB contract traded within Bollinger band although the RSI crossed overbought territory, sitting at 71 on Feb 22. Gasoil on the other hand is well in neutral territory as prices initially came off to retrace higher towards the end of the week.
While speculators in Brent were more bearish in the week to Feb 20 with a rise in shorts surpassing an increase in longs, WTI enjoyed a more bullish stance amid added length and liquidated short positions.
The HSFO complex has softened across the past fortnight, with weakness seemingly more concentrated in the East. On the other hand, the VLSFO complex saw relatively rangebound price action over the last two weeks, as price movements offered little conviction in regards to direction.
The Brent futures flat price for the prompt contract has seen a relatively weak morning. Price action initially found stability above the $83/bbl-mark, before coming off from $83.32/bbl at 08:00 GMT to $82.55/bbl at 09:50 GMT.
Prompt Brent futures flat price has seen a mixed afternoon. Prices were initially pressured, falling $1/bbl in less than 4 hours to $82.41/bbl at 14:05 GMT. However, this level incited some buying interest, with prices retracing higher to $83.69/bbl at 16:05 GMT. At time of writing (16:45 GMT) the Apr Brent futures is priced at $83.55/bbl.
The quest for direction in the oil markets has taken players to more niche markets with trading activity in refined fuels surging to the highest observed in multiple years.
The North Sea crude market was a major winner since the Chinese New Year, riding a wave of robust strength with the front supported from continued tightness.
In the last two weeks, EBOB crack prices initially strengthened to highs of around $18.60/bbl on Feb 13, before retracing $16.55/bbl on Feb 16. During the last fortnight, there was growing sell-side interest, as refiners and trade houses were seen offloading over 540kbbls and 1.1mbbls on Feb 19, respectively.
Prompt Brent futures flat price has seen a mixed afternoon. Prices were initially supported up to $83.48/bbl at 14:30 GMT before selling interest pressured prices lower to $82.10/bbl at 16:20 GMT.
