MOSCOW (MRC) -- Crude oil futures were flat during the mid-morning trade in Asia June 28, as the market awaited the upcoming OPEC+ meeting later in the week for pricing cues, reported S&P Global.
At 10:18 am Singapore time (0218 GMT), the ICE August Brent futures contract inched slightly lower by 3 cents/b (0.04%) from the previous settle at USD76.15/b, while the NYMEX August light sweet crude contract dipped 3 cents/b (0.04%) at USD74.05/b.
All eyes are on the OPEC+'s July 1 meeting, during which the producer group is expected to provide guidance into its production plan for August, and possibly beyond. OPEC+ is currently holding crude production at 6.2 million b/d below October 2018 levels and intends to taper this output cut to 5.76 million b/d in July.
The coalition has met with several calls to raise production August onward to ensure adequate oil supply in the market, with Indian oil minister raising concerns over inflationary pressure from increasing oil prices in a virtual meeting with OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Barkindo on June 24. Others have made similar calls, saying that countries emerging from the shadow of lockdown restrictions need affordable energy prices to support their economic recovery.
Yet analysts expect the coalition to remain cautious when it comes to raising production, as a myriad of developments could still derail the recovery in the oil market. Analysts said that, when doing its calculus, the OPEC+ will also be taking into account the spread of the more transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus, which has caused an uptick of infections in Israel, the UK, parts of the EU and Australia.
Additionally, the producer group will also be wary of a deal on the Joint Comprehensive plan of action, even though progress on that front remains elusive.
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