Despite a fall today, crude oil prices are set for their biggest monthly gain in years after historic production cuts and a rebound in demand.
The U.S. crude benchmark (WTI) has jumped almost 80 per cent in May, Bloomberg reports, the biggest gain in exchange data compiled by Bloomberg going back to 1983. That comes after four months of losses and prices are still down 45 per cent this year, the outlet notes.
A further price price is being held back by a rise in inventories in recent days, according to reports. A surge in imports of oil from Saudi Arabia is hitting the U.S. market “as a much publicized flotilla of tankers carrying crude from the kingdom begin to arrive, a legacy of the short-lived price war between the Saudis and Russia that amplified a collapse in crude prices in March and April,” MarketWatch reports.
Data via OilPrice.com
As OilPrice.com notes, it is likely too early to have any expectations for oil prices as market volatility remains extremely high and significant uncertainties remain for the global economy as it seeks to recover from shutdowns related to the Coronavirus pandemic.
WTI is on track for a record monthly gain of 75% in May, with Brent set for a 37% increase that would represent its strongest monthly rise since March 1999.
