Daily Times

Crude oil futures dipped up to 5.5 percent on a week-on-week (WoW) basis after surging over 26 percent in the preceding week, continuing their wild ride amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, edged lower by $5.44 (-4.61 percent) to $112.67 from $118.11 on WoW basis. In the preceding week, Brent jumped by $20.18 a barrel (+20.61 percent) to $118.11 from $97.93 on WoW basis. Brent traded as high as $139.13 a barrel this week, and as low as $105.60, which was the highest ever trading range for a week since the Brent benchmark was launched in 1988.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the main oil benchmark for North America, went down by $6.35 a barrel (-5.49 percent) to $109.33 from $115.68 on a weekly basis. In the preceding week, WTI jumped by $24.10 a barrel (+26.32 percent) to $115.68 from $91.58 on WoW basis. Both global benchmarks – Brent and WTI – have recorded an increase in 10 out of the last 12 weeks.

The price of Russian Sokol slipped by $10.61 (-10.75 percent) to $88.06 from $98.67 on WoW basis, going down for the second week in a row. Earlier in the preceding week, Sokol price slipped by 0.64 percent on WoW basis. Sokol price has been on a losing streak after surging for 10 straight weeks.

The price for Opec Basket slipped marginally from $117.96 to $117.23 on a week-on-week basis, showing a decrease of $0.73 (-0.62 percent). However, Arab Light remained the only benchmark whose price witnessed an increase of $1.21 (+1.13 percent) to reach $108.51 from $107.30 a barrel on a weekly basis. The prices for Opec Basket and Arab Light surged by 16.54 percent and 9.93 percent, respectively, in the preceding week. The price of Opec Basket has registered a minor dip after going up for 11 straight weeks, while Arab Light has been keeping its bullish bias intact for the last 12 weeks.