美元指数在过去几个交易日中一直保持在104以上，此前在2025年3月7日首次跌破该水平。美元走强对油价形成下行压力，因为以美元计价的原油对进口商来说变得更加昂贵。Against the backdrop of a strong USD, Brent Crude Oil Futures fell during the early trading session in Asia, as market participants closely monitor the dynamics of global conflicts...
Against the backdrop of a strong dollar, Brent Crude Oil Product Futures fell during the early trading session in Asia.
As of 12:00 Beijing time, the price of the Brent Crude Oil May contract is 71.90 USD/barrel, down 0.26 USD/barrel from the March 21 settlement price, when the contract rose by 0.16 USD/barrel. The WTI Crude Oil May contract price is 68.06 USD/barrel, down 0.22 USD/barrel from the March 21 settlement price, when the contract rose by 0.21 USD/barrel.
The USD index has remained above 104 in the past few trading days, having first fallen below this level on March 7, 2025. The strengthening dollar exerts downward pressure on oil prices, as crude oil priced in dollars becomes more expensive for importers. Since the Federal Reserve policymakers maintained the target interest rate on March 20 and indicated two interest rate cuts later this year, the dollar has generally remained strong.
Market participants are also closely monitoring the latest dynamics of global conflicts.
On March 21, an oil facility in the southern Russian region of Kafkaziyskaya experienced a tank explosion. The facility appears to belong to the Getmanovskaya station, but this has not been officially confirmed. According to regional emergency services quoted by the Russian state news agency TASS, the explosion was caused by the 'depressurization' of a tank, resulting in the leakage of burning oil products.
Russian crude oil and condensate are transported to the Getmanovskaya station by Railroads, where they are transferred to a pipeline for delivery to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) system. This system itself was targeted in a Drone attack in February. The CPC system is primarily responsible for the Transportation of Kazakhstan's crude oil, accounting for about 80% of the country’s total exports.
Ukraine has not yet claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred shortly after a phone call between Russian President Putin and USA President Trump, during which Putin agreed to suspend attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure for 30 days.
In the Middle East, tensions remain high. Israel resumed airstrikes on the Gaza Strip last week. The USA also vowed to retaliate against the Houthi attacks in Yemen by targeting Iran. Previously, the USA conducted a series of airstrikes in areas controlled by the Houthis in Yemen. The instability in the region could disrupt shipping routes and oil production.
(The above content is from the latest perspectives of the independent international energy and commodity price assessment institution Argus.)
Comment(0)
Reason For Report