Oil Prices Poised for Monthly Surge Despite Recent Pullback
Crude oil prices are trending lower in the short term but still on track to book both a weekly and monthly gain. On a monthly basis, Brent crude has gained nearly 20%, while West Texas Intermediate has also seen a similar increase.
The current price for Brent crude is $87.67 per barrel, with WTI trading at $82.07 per barrel. This represents a 1% drop from Thursday's prices, which were influenced by reports of increased tanker traffic crossing the Strait of Hormuz despite ongoing hostilities between Iran and the United States.
According to Again Capital partner John Kilduff, 'there is this sense that there is a lot of supply waiting to hit the market once all of this is resolved.'
The number of tankers crossing Hormuz remains low, with reports indicating it's still in single digits. However, ING commodity strategists note that even small improvements in traffic result in lower futures prices.
On a bullish note, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve is running low, which may lead to increased oil prices once releases stop soon, as mentioned by the Department of Energy.