The fear of additional interest rate hikes and ongoing Russian crude exports caused oil prices to decline by more than 2% in the previous session. However, prices stabilized in early Asian trade on Tuesday. Brent crude futures were up 28 cents to $85.18 per barrel, while U.S. Crude oil futures for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) were up 9 cents at $77.99.
Speculators anticipate the U.S. Interest rates will rise by 25 basis points by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, and by a half-point by the Bank of England and the European Central Bank the following day. Higher rates might reduce oil demand and slow down the world economy.
The market also focused on an OPEC+ (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries plus Others) ministerial meeting that is scheduled to take place virtually on February 1 at 1100 GMT.
When OPEC+ meets this week, the panel is anticipated to suggest maintaining the group’s present output guideline, five OPEC+ delegates told Reuters on Monday. A reduction in output of 2 million barrels per day (bpd), or around 2% of global demand, from November until the end of 2023 was agreed to by OPEC+ in October.
