[원유마감]WTI surged 6%… Supply instability in Suez Canal paralysis

Evergreen Lake Stranded at Suez Canal © AFP=News1

International oil prices soared 6%.

On the 24th (local time), futures for May delivery of Western Texas Crude Oil (WTI) in the US jumped 3.42 dollars (5.9%) compared to the battlefield and recorded 61.18 dollars per barrel. It fell close to 7% the day before, fell below $60 per barrel, and then rebounded sharply.

The North Sea Brent oil May also increased by $3.62 (6%) and traded at $64.41 per barrel. I made up for the plunge the day before.

Oil prices surged on that day due to the shutdown of the Suez Canal linking Asia and Europe. A super-large container cargo ship from Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen was stranded on the Suez Canal, and logistics was completely blocked. The Suez Canal is the heart of the energy industry, with 10% of offshore oil coming and going through it.

U.S. crude oil inventories increased, but they were not larger than expected, and the utilization rate of the oil refinery was lifted from the winter storm, suggesting the possibility of inventory reduction. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, crude oil stocks increased by 2.4 million barrels last week, but were slightly below the expected increase of 3 million barrels. The refinery’s utilization rate rose by 7.1 percentage points to 76.1%.

The fact that Germany withdrew the order to block Easter within a day also helped boost the economic resumption and boost oil prices.

PVM’s Steven Brenock, oil broker, said, “The Suez Canal paralyzed oil prices have been supported,” he said. “It will be difficult to completely reverse the newly formed downtrend.” Just a day ago, oil prices plunged 6% and entered the adjustment area. The European reblockade and the strong dollar pushed the WTI below $60 a barrel.

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