- West Texas Intermediate has swung the most this week since turning negative in 2020 and was trading near $110/Bbl early Friday
- Russia’s war on Ukraine continued to rattle markets, and Iranian nuclear deal talks stalled
- “Extreme intraday volatility perhaps says something about several things: degree of uncertainty, the nature of the news flow, the spillover from some chaotic spot markets and the relatively low liquidity levels at some points,” said Paul Horsnell, head of commodities research at Standard Chartered
- Russian oil has problems finding a home in the Far East
- Zero bidders. That was the outcome of a recent attempt to sell crude favored by Asian buyers (Bloomberg)
- Not all buyers across Asia are likely to be averse to Russian crude
- Buyers in India and China may still be open to buying, but only if they can secure the letters of credit and ships needed for transport, according to traders
- Citigroup said this week that it could still take four to six months for Russian production to decline, assuming exports fall by 2 MMBbl/d
- Talks between world powers and Iran were suspended as a nuclear deal remains elusive (BBG)
- A pause in the Vienna talks was required due to “external factors,” European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Twitter
- Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said the pause wasn’t necessarily the end of the road and could provide momentum to resolve the outstanding issues