The weakness on oil continues, with Brent currently at 82 dollars a barrel, with a drop of more than 1% (-4.4% since the beginning of the year); while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell close to $75 a barrel (-1%).
Market participants are awaiting the release of the Fed minutes, which could provide further clues on the path of monetary tightening in the US.
From this point of view, the prospect of further increases in interest rates by both the Fed and the ECB, in order to cool down the level of inflation, also kept oil prices under control.
However, the robust recovery of the Chinese economy could rekindle oil prices over the next few months.
Morgan Stanley scaled back its forecast today, arguing that the market will be oversupplied for oil in the first quarter of this year, balance again in the second quarter before moving into a lower-than-expected deficit in the second half. of 2023.
For now, concerns about a US slowdown and China’s recovery have trapped oil futures in a narrow range around $10 a barrel.