Oil prices fell again to historical lows as the full impact of the largest oil output cut in history needed time to trickle down to the movement of barrels for May delivery.
Eventually global storage capacity will start to ebb after the low prices caused by the coronavirus pandemic encouraged massive purchases by governments seeking to fill their strategic reserves.
By the end of the week, Brent crude had retreated to $28.08 per barrel while WTI also fell to $18.27 per barrel.
Still the extremely wide spread between Brent and WTI is not helping to make US crude oil exports attractive as physical constraints seems to be dominating market fundamentals.
US crude oil stocks recorded their largest weekly increase at a time of record-low refined petroleum product demand.
Even though the “contango” market structure is too wide, traders and refiners are not showing any interest in buying more oil because they don’t have anywhere to store it. As a result, the US reported the biggest one-week crude oil storage build of all time as refiner demand plummeted.
Commercial crude inventories surged by 19.25 million barrels, eclipsing the previous record-build of 15.18 million barrels realized just one week earlier.
Surprisingly, the “price war” accusation persists with some analysts claiming that it is still simmering, despite the efforts of OPEC+ to restore balance to the market and help to stabilize the collapsing global economy.
The term itself is misleadingly belligerent as the reduction in official selling prices was about staying competitive during a period of unprecedented weak demand.
The Saudi energy minister described the situation as follows:
“A price war is when you are under-pricing heavily, with a view to try and restrain other producers to sell in a particular market. That is not our case. People wait until we do our pricing, and then they assess their pricing according to ours.”
WEEKLY ENERGY RECAP: OPEC+ picks jaw jaw not war war
https://arab.news/zrryk
WEEKLY ENERGY RECAP: OPEC+ picks jaw jaw not war war
- Global storage capacity will start to ebb after governments sought to fill their strategic reserves
Closing Bell: Saudi main index slips to close at 11,228
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index slipped on Sunday, lost 23.17 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 11,228.64.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR2.99 billion ($797 million), as 170 of the stocks advanced and 82 retreated.
On the other hand, the Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu gained 449.38 points, or 1.90 percent, to close at 24,093.12. This comes as 43 of the stocks advanced while 27 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index lost 6.07 points, or 0.40 percent, to close at 1,511.36.
The best-performing stock of the day was Obeikan Glass Co., whose share price surged 7.54 percent to SR27.66.
Other top performers included Alamar Foods Co., whose share price rose 6.80 percent to SR47.10, as well as Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co., whose share price climbed 6.79 percent to SR5.66.
Saudi Investment Bank recorded the steepest drop, falling 3.21 percent to SR13.56.
Jahez International Co. for Information System Technology also saw its share price fall 3.15 percent to SR13.55.
Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co. declined 2.78 percent to SR7.34.
On the announcements front, Tanmiah Food Co. reported its annual financial results for the period ending Dec. 31. According to a Tadawul statement, the company recorded a net loss of SR18.8 million, compared with a net profit of SR95.8 million a year earlier.
The net loss was mainly due to ongoing market challenges that resulted in continued pricing pressures in fresh poultry, inflationary cost pressures, higher financing expenses, and depreciation and ramp-up costs from new facilities, partially offset by increased production volumes and cost-optimization initiatives.
Tanmiah Food Co. ended the session at SR58.20, up 3.72 percent.
United International Holding Co., also known as Tas’heel, announced its annual financial results for the period ending Dec. 31. A bourse filing showed the company recorded a net profit of SR273.64 million in 2025, up 23.05 percent from 2024, primarily driven by a 23.4 percent rise in revenues. The revenue growth helped lift gross profit by 23.7 percent.
Tas’heel ended the session at SR146.80, down 0.28 percent.
