MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures rose during mid-morning Asian trade June 21 as markets continued to price in a recovery in global oil demand, while keeping an eye on the recently resumed Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action negotiations, reported S&P Global.
At 11:28 am Singapore time (0328 GMT), the ICE August Brent futures contract was up 47 cents/b (0.64%) from the previous settle at USD73.98/b, while the NYMEX WTI July light sweet crude contract was up 55 cents/b (0.77%) at USD72.19/b.
This morning's rise extends the uptrend from that of last week ended June 18, during which the Brent and NYMEX light sweet crude markers rose 1.13% and 1.03% to close at USD73.51/b and USD71.64/b, respectively.
The uptrend in the oil markets come despite hawkish signals from the US Federal Reserve, which is pushing the dollar higher, and can be attributed to markets buying into the global demand recovery narrative.
With rising vaccination rates, and easing mobility restrictions, the US and Europe are at the forefront of this recovery, and analysts have said that the record crude throughput seen in China in May is likely to persist until winter.
ANZ analysts have also noted nascent signs of improvement in India's downstream products demand, as parts of the country relax lockdown restrictions following a sustained downtrend in COVID-19 infections.
In other news, negotiations over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action have resumed in Vienna on June 20 after the election of Ebrahim Raisi as Iran's president. Raisi had earlier said that he is committed to the JCPOA.
Raisi's top energy adviser, Alireza Zeyghami, a former deputy oil minister, told S&P Global Platts that under Raisi, Iran would seek a quick return to its pre-sanctions crude production of near 4 million b/d, with or without an agreement. Many buyers of Iranian crude, however, will await the restoration of the JCPOA before purchasing Iranian crude, as they will not want to risk incurring sanctions penalties.
We remind that as MRC informed earlier, Indian refiners, anticipating a lifting of US sanctions, plan to make space for the resumption of Iranian imports by reducing spot crude oil purchases in the second half of the year. The world"s third-largest oil consumer and importer halted imports from Tehran in 2019 after former US President Donald Trump withdrew from a 2015 accord and re-imposed sanctions on the OPEC producer over its disputed nuclear programme.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 744,130 tonnes in the first four month of 2021, up by 4% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. At the same time, PP deliveries to the Russian market were 523,900 tonnes in January-April 2021, up by 55% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and PP block copolymers increased, whereas shipments of PP random copolymers decreased.
MRC