Roundup: Investors Take Profits International oil prices are under pressure to lower

New York, 21 Jan (Xinhua) -- Roundup: Investors Profited International oil prices were under pressure

Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Yanan

Due to the overall pressure on market sentiment, the price of international crude oil futures fell significantly on the 21st. Many analysts believe that the global supply and demand basically maintain some support in the face of international oil prices, but due to multiple factors, international oil prices may fluctuate in the short term.

As of the close of the day, light crude oil futures for March 2022 delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $0.41, or 0.48%, to close at $85.14 a barrel. Brent crude futures for March 2022 delivery in London fell $0.49, or 0.55%, to close at $87.89 a barrel.

Stephen Brunnock, an analyst at PVM Oil Brokerage, believes that the main reason for the correction in oil prices is that investors chose to take profits before the weekend arrived, and there was no new stimulus in the market.

In the past period, international crude oil prices continued to climb, of which the new York market crude oil futures price hit the highest level since October 2014 on the 18th, causing the market to pay close attention. Phil Flynn, a market analyst at the Price Futures Group in the United States, said on the 21st that due to the excessive bullishness of the market in the early stage, international crude oil futures were overbought, and under the influence of external factors such as the decline in the US stock market, international oil prices could not continue to rise.

Kasten Fritsch, commodity analyst at Commerzbank, analyzed that the previous rise in international oil prices was the market's response to the relevant stimulus. Fritsch said that in the short term, oil prices continue to adjust, or investors continue to push up at bargain prices, both possibilities exist.

Taylor Ritchie, co-editor of the US market research journal "7 Point Market Report", said that investors are worried that the expectation of US interest rate hikes and related policies will dampen the economic recovery, causing capital to choose to hedge, which has suppressed the price increase of crude oil futures to some extent.

Edward Moya, senior market analyst at online foreign exchange trading platform Chubb, believes that the decline in international oil prices is normal against the background of the unexpected rise in US commercial crude oil inventories and the decline in US stock markets leading to lower risk asset prices. Still, Moya said fundamentals still support a rise in international oil prices to $100 a barrel in the summer of 2022.

Bank of America analysts also believe that Brent crude oil futures prices will reach $120 per barrel in mid-2022 due to the control of production capacity by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC oil producers, the low global oil inventories and the continued impact of geopolitical factors.