Oil prices fell 5% yesterday on forecasts of reduced demand

The US market is expecting a recession this year, and the consumer confidence index fell to a 9-month low in April, leading to lower prices for stocks, oil and other commodities.

Investors believe that in order to curb inflation, central banks will once again raise interest rates in May, which will slow economic growth and reduce demand for energy carriers in the US, EU and Great Britain.

Yesterday, June futures for Brent oil on the London ICE exchange fell by 4.2% to last month's level of $77.75/barrel, and for WTI oil on the New York exchange - by 3.8% to $74.3 /barrel (+1.8% for the month).

Prices were not supported even by positive data on reserves and production in the USA. Thus, according to the EIA report, as of April 21, crude oil stocks in the US were 0.5% lower than the 5-year average, and gasoline stocks were 7.2% lower. Oil production for the week of April 15-21 fell by 0.8% to 12.2 million bpd, which is 6.9% or 0.9 million bpd lower than the February 2020 record high of 13.1 million bpd. a day

Following oil prices, June palm oil futures on Malaysia's Bursa exchange fell for 4 straight days, falling 1.8% yesterday to RM3,570/t or $802/t (-4.6% on the week).

They are under pressure from a sharp decline in exports from Malaysia, which surveyor AmSpec Agri Malaysia said fell 18.4% from the corresponding period in March for April 1-25, while surveyor Intertek Testing Services estimates a 14% drop in exports.

July soybean oil futures on the Chicago Stock Exchange rose 0.6% to $1,156/t yesterday (-5.1% for the week, -4.2% for the month).