During the early trading session in Asia, the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Brent Crude Oil Product futures prices remained relatively stable, as the market waits for the results of the USA Federal Reserve System meeting.

As of 12:00 noon Beijing time, the price of the Brent Crude Oil contract on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) was 73.86 dollars per barrel, down 5 dollars from the settlement price on December 16, and the contract price for that day fell 58 dollars compared to the previous trading day.

The price of the NYMEX crude oil block orders contract is 70.60 dollars per barrel, down 11 dollars from the settlement price on December 16, and down 58 dollars from the previous trading day's contract price.

USAthe Federal Open Market CommitteeThe FOMC will start a two-day meeting on December 17. Federal Reserve policymakers have hinted that they may be less aggressive in cutting interest rates next year compared to what was previously indicated, as inflation remains above their 2% target.

Barclays in the United Kingdom slightly lowered its Crude Oil Product price forecast for 2025 on December 16. The bank expects the average price of Brent Crude Oil in 2025 to be 83 dollars per barrel and the average price of WTI Crude Oil in the USA to be 79 dollars per barrel, both down by 2 dollars per barrel from the projections in September.

Barclays' forecast is at the high end of the prediction range, and on December 16 it stated, "Concerns about an impending surplus may be exaggerated."

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated that the USA plans to impose sanctions due to the Russian ownership of the Serbian state-owned oil company NIS. Vučić did not specify what the sanctions would include but hinted that they would affect crude oil imports.

Russia's Gazpromneft and Gazprom own 50% and 6.15% of NIS, respectively, while Serbia holds 29.87%, with the remaining shares held by Other shareholders. NIS operates Serbia's only refinery—the Pančevo plant with a daily processing capacity of 0.096 million barrels, which mainly imports crude oil through the Adriatic pipeline from the port of Omišalj in Croatia.

The European Union announced changes to a package of sanctions against Russia—specifically targeting additional vessels, personnel, and entities that circumvent sanctions, and extending the exemption period for refined products imported from Russian pipelines to June 5, 2025.

These measures designate 52 new vessels, bringing the total to 79, prohibiting these vessels from entering ports and providing services. These vessels were designated for circumventing the oil price cap mechanism, supporting the Russian energy sector, or transporting military equipment or stolen Ukrainian grain.

Libya's largest operating refinery has resumed normal operations after armed conflict on December 15 caused damage to several oil storage tanks. A port agent told Argus that the force majeure status has been lifted.

(The above content is from Argus, an independent international energy and commodity price assessment agency)