purlin ,cvx) And exxon mobil ,XOM) ended lower on Wednesday along with other energy stocks as concerns about the SVB Financial crash spilled over into the oil market. US oil prices fell to their lowest level since the end of 2021. CVX shares led Dow Jones Industrial shares’ early losses on Wednesday.
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US oil futures held below $70 a barrel on Wednesday, a decline not seen in prices since December 2021. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) prices fell to $67.04 a barrel, down 13% since the end of 2022. Meanwhile, Brent crude futures traded around. $76 a barrel, near December 2022 levels.
The failure of SVB Financial last weekend and the failure of Signature Bank of New York on Sunday weighed on oil prices, causing other financial institutions to crash. However, the recent oil demand forecast by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) may provide some respite to the prices.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led to a sharp rise in oil prices. Futures declined in the second half of the year, trading 43% below June highs on Wednesday.
Chevron stock fell 4.8% during market trading Wednesday. Exxon Mobil dropped 5.6%. Sellers also ship to oilfield service firms halliburton ,HAL, SLB ,SLB) And Baker Hughes ,BKR) for losses in the 5%-9% range.
Kotera Energy ,ctra) reported a loss of 8% on Wednesday marathon oil ,MRO) fell 10%. energy stock apa ,apa) sank 9%.
OPEC and the oil forecast
OPEC on Tuesday maintained its forecast for 2023 global oil-demand growth. The oil cartel, along with concerns about the US and Europe, dampened optimism over China’s reopening economy.
In its monthly market report, OPEC expects oil demand to increase by 2.3 million barrels per day to 101.9 million barrels per day in 2023. Global oil demand was expected to total 99.8 million barrels in 2022. OPEC also raised its forecast for growth in oil demand in China for 2023.
On the supply side, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said in October that OPEC+ would stick to the agreed production cuts until the end of 2023.
Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency echoed a bullish outlook for oil demand, pointing to resumed air travel and China’s economic reopening from the pandemic.
Chevron stock, other stocks react to oil prices
Airlines and shipping stocks often rise when oil prices decline, as the decline allows companies to lock in cheap fuel price hedges. However, shipping and airline stocks were broadly lower on Wednesday. Airlines were down on Tuesday after several air carriers gave mixed guidance updates.
Meanwhile, energy stocks showed some early premarket resilience on Wednesday, with Chevron, Exxon Mobil and others losing about 2%. Going into the open, selling increased and the losses deepened.
Chevron stock is now down nearly 3% for March, and is on track for a fourth straight monthly decline. Exxon posted a 6% loss, heading for its second monthly decline.
Diamondback Energy ,Feng) And westerner ,oxy) broke about 7 per cent. Devon Energy ,dvn) shed 8.7%.
Wednesday afternoon, except First Republic Bank ,FRC), energy stocks Coterra Energy, Marathon Oil, Halliburton, Devon Energy, APA and SLB became the worst performers on the S&P 500.
conocophillips ,COP) closed 6.4% lower on Wednesday. On Monday, the Biden administration approved the Willow oil-drilling project in the Alaskan Arctic.
That gives the green light for ConocoPhillips to begin construction on a nearly $7 billion project in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve. COP expects the project at its peak to produce about 180,000 barrels of oil a day – the equivalent of about 40% of Alaska’s current crude production.
Environmental organizations criticized Biden for the decision, saying he was going back on his climate protection promises.
Please follow Kit Norton on Twitter @KitNorton for more coverage.
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