While it may still be too early to say if sentiment in oil markets has completely shifted, signs that the U.S. will avoid a default and that oil markets are beginning to tighten have put oil prices on course for their first weekly gain in a month, OilPrice said. 

After a month of downside pressures and increasingly bearish sentiment, oil prices have finally broken the vicious circle and are set for their first weekly gain in a month. The U.S. has provided a large chunk of that optimism, with debt ceiling talks now looking much more likely to result in a negotiated settlement and gasoline demand demonstrating real strength with another week-on-week inventory drop. 

Russia’s deputy prime minister Alexander Novak stated that Russia has reached its target to cut 500,000 b/d of crude production relative to February 2023 levels, despite pledging to curb output by March already, just as OPEC+ starts to prepare for its June 4 meeting. 

Resurging heat in Canada’s Alberta province has brought wildfires closer to oil sands production hubs, with ConocoPhillips evacuating its 150,000 b/d Surmont project south of Fort McMurray, bringing total shut-ins to 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

/OilPrice/