Despite the decrease in USA Crude Oil Product inventories, Brent Crude Oil Futures prices on the Intercontinental Exchange fell during the early trading session in Asia.

As of 12:00 noon Beijing time, the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Brent Crude Oil Product contract price is $73.09 per barrel, down $30 from the settlement price on December 18, while the closing price for that day's contract is up $20 compared to the previous trading day.

The price of the main Crude Oil contract on the NYMEX was $70.19 per barrel, down $39 from the December 18 settlement price, while the closing price of the contracts for the day increased by $50 compared to the previous trading day.

The report from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that last week, US Crude Oil inventories decreased by 934,000 barrels to 0.4211 billion barrels, while exports reached the highest level since July.

The inventory at the Cushing storage hub in Oklahoma increased by 108,000 barrels to 23 million barrels in the week ending December 13.

The Federal Reserve cut its target interest rate by 25 basis points on December 18, marking the third rate cut this year, and hinted that it would only cut rates by 0.5 percentage points next year to avoid a resurgence of inflation.the Federal Open Market Committee(FOMC) has lowered the federal funds rate from the previous range of 4.5-4.75% to 4.25-4.50%. Prior to this, a 25 basis point rate cut was made in November, and a 50 basis point cut was made in mid-September, marking the first decrease since 2020.

Meanwhile, India's Reliance Industries has signed a 10-year long-term contract with the state-controlled Russian Oil Company (Rosneft) for up to 0.5 million barrels of Urals crude oil per day. This contract is renewed annually and involves a minimum of 0.3 million to 0.35 million barrels of crude oil per month, with the remaining 0.15 million to 0.2 million barrels available for optional purchase, depending on price, discounts, and supply conditions, sources close to the contract indicated. Both Russian Oil Company and Reliance Industries have not commented on the deal.

India is one of the largest buyers of Russian crude oil — this year's imports are approximately 1.8 million barrels per day, roughly the same as in 2023, according to trade analysis platform Kpler. Russian supply accounted for over 40% of India's total imports from October to November. Reliance Industries is also the number one buyer of Russian crude oil in India for 2024 — although imports have decreased by more than 6% to 0.402 million barrels per day.

Like most Russian oil companies, the stock prices of the Russian Oil Company have declined this year. Sanctions on the oil industry, falling profits, rising transportation costs, increased tax burdens, and higher borrowing costs have all put pressure on the prices of Russian Petroleum stocks.

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