Oil Advances With Broader Market Rally Ahead of Rate Decisions

Nov 1, 2022

(Bloomberg) Oil gained as the dollar weakened and equities rallied before interest-rate decisions by major central banks.

West Texas Intermediate futures climbed to trade above $87 a barrel after losing around 3% over the previous two sessions. The Federal Reserve is scheduled to make a decision on rates Wednesday, as central banks continue to tighten monetary policy to tame inflation. Chinese stocks surged on speculation that policymakers are making preparations to exit Covid restrictions.

Crude joins broader market rally ahead of Fed interest rate decision

While oil is down by almost a third since early June, futures capped the first monthly gain since May last month after the OPEC+ alliance agreed to sizable production cuts. Excess supply was the main reason to curb output from November, the group’s Secretary-General Haitham al Ghais said on Monday.

“We’re in a tale of two markets,” Joe McMonigle, the International Energy Forum’s secretary-general, told Bloomberg TV at the Adipec conference in Abu Dhabi. “The physical markets are very tight. The paper markets are pricing in bad economic news and a bad recession.”

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Prices:

WTI for December delivery rose 1.7% to $87.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:17 a.m. in London.
Brent for January settlement gained 1.8% to $94.49 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange.

Cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies will be followed by European Union sanctions on Russian crude flows, further clouding the supply outlook. Moscow has mostly failed to line up fresh markets for its oil before EU penalties take effect from Dec. 5.

A US-led plan to cap the price of Russian oil sales, part of the broader international response to the invasion of Ukraine, will temporarily exempt shipments loaded before Dec. 5, according to the US Department of the Treasury. Exempted cargoes must also be unloaded by Jan. 19.