Oil Calms in the $60s: Calm Before the Storm?
Oil prices stabilized on Monday (October 28th) after two days of declines. Brent was in the $64–$66 per barrel range, with the December contract closing at around $65.50 per barrel, while WTI held near $61 per barrel.
Traders are still calculating: is this a temporary respite, or the beginning of further weakening oil prices? The main factor remains the same: concerns about oversupply. Global seaborne oil volumes are at record levels, a sign of continued supply buildup. At the same time, OPEC+ is said to agree to increase production again later this week, as Saudi Arabia seeks to regain market share. If supply becomes tighter while global demand slows, the market fears oil prices will struggle to rise.
On the geopolitical front, market participants are also monitoring the latest US sanctions on major Russian oil companies like Rosneft and Lukoil. These sanctions are designed to make Russian oil exports more expensive and riskier, without causing global oil prices to spike. The US even gave Germany a six-month deadline to resolve the status of Rosneft's assets there.
After the sanctions were announced, some buyers in China and India began reducing purchases of Russian oil by sea, which had helped lift prices last week.
Beyond that, the oil market is also being swept up in global political news. US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet this Thursday, with trade and Russian oil flows on the agenda.
Hopes for a US-China trade deal could actually be good for the energy demand outlook, but for now, the market is clearly more concerned about oversupply than about a demand recovery. The result: oil is holding up, but fragile. (asd)
Source: Newsmaker.id
