Friday, March 1, 2024
Oil rises, markets await OPEC+ decision despite mixed demand drivers, 2 MARCH
Oil rises, markets await OPEC+ decision despite mixed demand drivers
Oil prices rose on Friday and were expected to end the week slightly higher as markets anticipated an OPEC+ decision on supply agreements for the second quarter amidst divergent demand data from key customers the United States and China.
Brent futures for May jumped 27 cents, or 0.33%, to $82.18 per barrel at 0403 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April advanced 20 cents, or 0.26%, to $78.46.
WTI is expected to rise by at least 2.5% this week, while Brent remains near last week’s closing price. Brent has remained comfortably over $80 for three weeks.
“Brent crude prices remained sideways this week. Brent at USD83/bbl has experienced recent gains, but fundamentals remain skewed toward oversupply,” wrote BMI analysts in a client note.
“The expectation that OPEC+ production cuts will continue into Q224 is also dragging on mood, as lackluster demand is projected to stay…However, time spreads for Brent futures contracts have widened. The shift to higher backwardation (market structure) would support a more positive perspective on prices, as markets anticipate tightening in the coming months,” the experts stated.
According to a Reuters poll, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries produced 26.42 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, an increase of 90,000 bpd from January. Libyan output increased by 150,000 barrels per day from the previous month.
According to insiders, a vote to prolong the cutbacks is anticipated in the first week of March, with individual nations announcing their own decisions.
The possibility of Saudi-led OPEC+ sustaining production cuts beyond the first quarter, perhaps until the end of 2024, would likely push oil prices beyond US$80/bbl, according to Suvro Sarkar, DBS Bank’s energy sector team leader.
Supporting prices, the Federal Reserve’s favored inflation barometer, the U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index, showed January inflation in line with experts’ forecasts, keeping a June interest rate decrease in the cards. This, in turn, might reduce consumer costs and increase gasoline purchasing activity.
However, mixed February purchasing managers’ index (PMI) data from China, the world’s largest oil user, limited price advances.
China’s manufacturing activity fell for the fifth consecutive month in February, according to an official factory survey released on Friday, putting pressure on Beijing officials to implement further stimulus measures as factory owners struggle to find orders.
The official non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which covers services and construction, increased to 51.4 from 50.7 in January, its highest level since September.
“Demand side we concur that 2Q will have hiccups and we are projecting Brent to average lower in 2Q24 compared to 1Q24, before rebounding in 2H24 on the back of the potential rate cut scenario, which should boost fund flows towards riskier assets,” Sarkar, of DBS Bank, said.
"EURO BANK AND INDIA UPI ANNOUNCEMENT" BY GOLDILOCKS, 2 MARCH
GOLDILOCKS
Euro Bank and India UPI Announcement:
"NPCI International Payments Limited (NIPL), a subsidiary of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), and Eurobank SA, a Greek bank, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) towards enhancing cross-border payments using UPI rails."
The Euro Bank and and India's UPI has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between them on cross border payments utilizing the Unified Payments Interface.
"The eurobank is a financial institution that accepts deposits and makes loans in foreign currencies." What makes this connection so important lies in the fact of the payment systems between them.
"As the private bank of the largest financial group in the world, Frankfurter Bankgesellschaft is both at home in Zurich and in Frankfurt am Main, rooted in both countries – Switzerland and Germany – and closely connected with city and country, culture and society at both locations."
Cross border Euro payments to and from Switzerland go through the Swiss Euro Clearing Bank in Frankfurt. This acts as the link between the two systems. These connections are of prime importance in uniting foreign markets to one of the most influx of money that moves through the world each day.
This gives us more access to foreign markets and foreign currency trades. Each day, we are witnessing various pieces of our global economy unite into what makes up the Global Markets.
These new connections make up new digital building blocks inside the new QFS. Gaps are being closed rapidly, and the need for stablecoins to purchase tokenized assets from around the world is becoming more and more important.
As Protocol 20 continues to expand uniting Quantum Technologies, look for stablecoins to become more in the forefront going forward.
© Goldilocks
https://www.cnbctv18.com/finance/npci-international-eurobank-sign-mou-to-facilitate-remittances-to-india-using-upi-19166991.htm
https://www.bis.org/publ/qtrpdf/r_qt2003h.htm#:~:text=All%20cross%2Dborder%20euro%20payments,link%20between%20the%20two%20systems.
https://www.swissbanking.ch/en/topics/market-access/relations-between-switzerland-and-the-eu
https://swiss-banking-lawyers.com/frankfurter-bankgesellschaft/#:~:text=As%20%C2%ABthe%20private%20bank%C2%BB%20of,and%20society%
The White House issues a position on revenue sharing between Baghdad and Erbil, 2 march
The White House issues a position on revenue sharing between Baghdad and Erbil
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan reaffirmed today, Friday, that his country supports the security of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, as well as the sharing of revenues and budgets with Baghdad.
According to media reports, Sullivan emphasized the United States’ support for the Kurdistan government and the Iraqi government’s efforts to reach an agreement on revenue and budget sharing that improves stability, good governance, and economic progress throughout Iraq and Kurdistan during his meeting with the Prime Minister of the Regional Government, Masrour Barzani, in Washington. American flags.
Last month, the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court ordered the Kurdistan Regional Council of Ministers to give over all oil and non-oil profits to the Baghdad administration.
"IMPORTANT IRAQ NEWS: WORLD TRADE CONFIRMS ITS ASPIRATION AND FOLLOW-UP OF THE STEPS FOR IRAQ TO JOIN IT" BY MNT GOAT, 1 MARCH
WORLD TRADE CONFIRMS ITS ASPIRATION AND FOLLOW-UP OF THE STEPS FOR IRAQ TO JOIN IT
The World Trade Organization confirmed, on Tuesday, its aspiration and follow-up of the steps for Iraq’s accession to it.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Commerce received by (Al-Rabaa), Minister Atheer Al-Ghurairi held a meeting with the Assistant Director General of the World Trade Organization, Zang Shank Shank, in the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi, to discuss completing Iraq’s procedures to complete the required files, supporting reforms and legislation to be consistent with the market system, and strengthening the country’s economic capabilities to complete… Requirements for the next stage of the accession process.
Al-Ghurairi stressed, according to the statement, “the keenness of the working group on accession to continue by strengthening cooperation with the organization’s accession department and the head of the working group, Saudi Ambassador Saqr al-Muqbel, whose recent visit to Iraq provided great support for the efforts and steps taken by the national committee concerned with accession, which he chaired to complete all requirements in a manner that It achieves Iraq’s integration into the multilateral trading system.
The minister stressed “the hope that the efforts of the organization’s working group will focus on supporting the accession of important countries, including Iraq.”
Evening News with MarkZ, joined by Zester. 03/01/2024
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