- Oil extends losses amid growing concerns over interest rate hikes
- August ’23 WTI lost 78c this morning to trade around $68.59/Bbl
- Equities and the U.S. dollar trade lower
- Despite policymakers' tough stance on interest rates, the ECB President implied that the rate hike trend may not end anytime soon
- Persistent Russian crude exports, coupled with Western nations' strict monetary policies and China's slow recovery, weigh on prices
- However, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said Tuesday that the government would roll out more practical, effective measures to boost domestic demand
- Major Russian Export Terminal's Maintenance Work Temporarily Hinders Crude Shipments (Bloomberg)
- Russia's seaborne crude oil exports dropped by roughly 0.98 MMBbl/d last week due to planned maintenance work at the Primorsk loading site (West)
- This temporary dip is a recurrent annual occurrence seen over the past few years, indicating it's a scheduled interruption
- Pacific region shipments also decreased by 0.2 MMBbl/d, but this doesn't indicate a production cut given the area's premium export prices and shorter delivery times to major markets
- Despite these temporary reductions, Russia's refineries have ramped up crude processing rates to a peak level since April