How do you fathom or explain having to rewind something not too long ago you unwound.
Two words but we will make it three, pathetic, incompetent Biden administration, otherwise known as game playing and manipulation.
We know high gasoline prices in an election year sting an incumbent party.
“Oil futures edged lower on Thursday, with U.S. and global benchmark prices extending declines into a fourth straight session and looking to mark another settlement at their lowest in three weeks.
“Traders digested news that the U.S. will reinstate sanctions on Venezuela and continue to watch developments in the Middle East follow Iran’s attack on Israel to gauge risks to global oil supplies. They’ve also turned their attention to signs of weakness in oil demand.
“Since Iran’s attack on Israel last weekend that did not cause significant damage or casualties, the situation is seen as less dire than originally thought and there has been a ‘sell-the-news’ reaction over the course of this week,” analysts at Sevens Report Research wrote in Thursday’s newsletter.
“That’s been amplified by higher-for-longer interest rate concerns and “less certainty that the U.S. and global economies will be able to avoid a recession in the quarters ahead,” they said.
So, the rally for oil is “considered ‘on pause’ right now, with near-term risks to the upside given the still-simmering geopolitical tensions,” the analysts said.
“Still, “longer-term risks are skewed to the downside due to slowing growth and a subsequent downturn in consumer demand,” they said.
Crude-oil prices are on track to post a decline for a second-straight week amid signs that demand isn’t growing as quickly as experts had expected.
“The threat of intensifying direct hostilities between Israel and Iran has been shrugged off by traders, although this should continue to put a floor under prices. Instead, the focus is on renewed concerns for demand growth for the rest of this year, and beyond,” said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, in emailed commentary.
“Supply data released on Wednesday by the Energy Information Administration showed inventories climbed for a fourth straight week through Friday.
“JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s high-frequency demand indicator estimated that worldwide oil consumption so far in April has been less than initially projected, averaging 101 million barrels per day, roughly 200,000 barrels per day below their published estimates.
“On a year-over-year basis, demand growth in April was on track for 1.46 million barrels per day, lower than JPM’s expectations for a 1.7 million barrels per day increase.
“On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of State announced it was letting the U.S. government’s temporary sanctions-relief waiver, which authorized transactions related to the oil and gas sector operations in Venezuela, expire, but issued a a 45-day “wind-down license” to allow for an orderly transition in the oil and gas market.
“The U.S. had temporarily lifted sanctions, in part to get free elections in Venezuela but also because it feared the loss of Russian oil due to sanctions, said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at The Price Futures Group.
“The move to allow the waiver to expire could be a “precursor” to a possible release of oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve using the conflict as a potential reason for a release to give the U.S. “cover” as gasoline prices start to edge back up, said Flynn.
“Natural-gas futures, meanwhile, traded higher, looking to recoup Wednesday’s loss and then some.
“The Energy Information Administration Thursday revealed a weekly increase of 50 billion cubic feet in domestic supplies for the week ended April 12. On average, analysts forecast a climb of 44 billion cubic feet, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights.“