Crude oil prices recovered slightly after yesterday selloff taking both benchmarks to lowest levels in two week. The front-month WTI and Brent crude oil contracts stabilized after plunging -2.97% and -3.74%, respectively, on Monday. Concerns over oversupply have put a lid to any price rally. It has been reported that Russia output rose to 10.97M bpd in March, up from 10.95M bpd a month ago. This was surprising as the oil giant has pledged, alongside several OPEC members, to cut output so as to support oil prices. The output increase has raised concerns over the compliance of the participants of the deal.
Moving to the Gulf, it was reported that Saudi Arabia would lower prices for all crude grades for its Asian customers. Separately, Bahrain had just announced over the weekend the discovery of a new oil field off the country’s western coast that is forecast to contain “highly significant quantities of oil and gas”. According to the country’s oil minister, Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, the oil and gas reserve there is at “at substantial levels, capable of supporting the long-term extraction of tight oil and deep gas”.
