Crude oil futures traded lower on Friday morning following the US administration’s decision to release crude oil from its strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) inventory.
At the time of filing this report, June Brent oil futures were at $104.54, down by 6.18 per cent; and May crude oil futures on WTI were at $99.77, down by 0.51 per cent.
April crude oil futures were trading at ₹7,586 on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) in the initial hour of Friday morning, against the previous close of ₹7,766, down by 2.32 per cent, and May futures were trading at ₹7,492 against the previous close of ₹7,655, down by 2.13 per cent.
On Thursday, the US administration announced that it would release around 1 million barrels of oil per day for six months from its SPR inventory. The move was aimed at bringing down oil prices in the market. Prices in the crude oil markets have been on an uptrend following the Russia-Ukraine war. Russia is one of the major crude oil producers in the world.
Meanwhile, the member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) would meet later on Friday to discuss the release of oil from their reserves. On March 1, the member countries had decided to release around 60 million barrels of oil.
In another development, the 27th ministerial meeting of the OPEC (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) and non-OPEC countries, which was conducted via videoconference on March 31, decided to adjust upward the monthly overall production by 432,000 barrels a day for May 2022. The market players had already expected this move from the OPEC+ members.
April natural gas futures were trading at ₹429.40 on the MCX in the initial hour of Friday morning, against the previous close of ₹436.40, down by 1.60 per cent.
NCDEX
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), April guargum futures were trading at ₹12,690 in the initial hour of Friday morning, against the previous close of ₹12,172, up by 4.26 per cent.
April turmeric (farmer polished) contracts were trading at ₹8,974 on NCDEX in the initial hour of Friday morning, against the previous close of ₹8,774, up by 2.28 per cent.