{"id":7729,"date":"2025-04-22T16:54:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T20:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/2025\/04\/22\/crude-prices-climb-as-market-sentiment-improves\/"},"modified":"2025-04-22T16:54:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T20:54:00","slug":"crude-prices-climb-as-market-sentiment-improves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/2025\/04\/22\/crude-prices-climb-as-market-sentiment-improves\/","title":{"rendered":"Crude Prices Climb as Market Sentiment Improves"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"layout__region nsdq-l-grid__item syndicated-article-body\">\n<section class=\"jupiter22-c-article-body\">\n<div class=\"body\">\n<div class=\"body__content\">\n<p>May WTI crude oil (CLK25) Tuesday closed up +1.23 (+1.95%), and May RBOB gasoline (RBK25) closed up +0.0343 (+1.66%).<\/p>\n<p>Crude oil and gasoline prices on Tuesday settled moderately higher. \u00a0Tuesday&#8217;s stock rebound improved confidence in the economic outlook and boosted risk-on sentiment in asset markets, lifting crude prices. \u00a0Also, optimism the US can strike trade deals with its trading partners is positive for economic growth and energy demand after US trade negotiators said they have made &#8220;significant progress&#8221; toward a bilateral trade deal with India, the world&#8217;s second-biggest crude importer. \u00a0Tuesday&#8217;s stronger dollar limited gains in crude oil. \u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"ads__inline\">\n<div id=\"js-dfp-tag-5QA\"  class=\"btf-bodymidpagetwothirdswidth-1\">          <script type=\"text\/javascript\">         googletag.cmd.push(function() {             \/\/ Check if ID matches ID in the window.adsList array before calling googletag.display             function isAdInAdsList(id) {             for (var i = 0; i < window.adsList.length; i++) {                 if (window.adsList[i].id === id) {                     return true;                 }             }             return false;         }         if (isAdInAdsList('js-dfp-tag-5QA')) {             googletag.display('js-dfp-tag-5QA');         }         });     <\/script> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>     <span>Don\u2019t Miss a Day: <\/span> From crude oil to coffee, sign up free for Barchart\u2019s best-in-class commodity analysis.  <\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday's action by the \u00a0International Monetary Fund (IMF) to cut its global 2025 GDP forecast to +2.8% from a January estimate of +3.3% is bearish for energy demand and crude prices.<\/p>\n<p>Crude oil prices have recently been undercut by the chance of a US-Iran nuclear deal that would reduce or eliminate export restrictions on Iranian crude oil exports. \u00a0Iran's foreign minister said his country had a \"better understanding\" with the US after Saturday's talks on Iran's nuclear program. \u00a0The talks will resume on Wednesday in Oman. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>An increase in crude oil held worldwide on tankers is bearish for oil prices. \u00a0Vortexa reported Monday that crude oil stored on tankers that have been stationary for at least seven days rose by +19% w\/w to 78.19 million bbl in the week ended April 18, the highest in 8 months.<\/p>\n<p>Crude prices have been on the defensive this month and sank to a 4-year low on April 9. \u00a0Tariff turmoil is weighing energy prices on concerns about weaker global economic growth and energy demand even after President Trump paused his reciprocal tariffs last Wednesday. \u00a0 Meanwhile, all the other previously announced Trump tariffs remain in place.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ads__inline\">\n<div id=\"js-dfp-tag-nV8\"  class=\"btf-bodymidpagetwothirdswidth-2\">          <script type=\"text\/javascript\">         googletag.cmd.push(function() {             \/\/ Check if ID matches ID in the window.adsList array before calling googletag.display             function isAdInAdsList(id) {             for (var i = 0; i < window.adsList.length; i++) {                 if (window.adsList[i].id === id) {                     return true;                 }             }             return false;         }         if (isAdInAdsList('js-dfp-tag-nV8')) {             googletag.display('js-dfp-tag-nV8');         }         });     <\/script> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Stronger crude demand in China, the world's largest crude importer, supports oil prices. \u00a0Reuters reported last Monday that China's Mar crude imports rose to 12.1 million bpd, the highest since August 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Crude prices have a negative carryover from April 3, when OPEC+ said it would boost crude production in May by 411,000 bpd, much more than the +138,000 bpd of crude production it added this month. \u00a0OPEC+ is boosting output to reverse the 2-year-long production cut, gradually restoring a total of 2.2 million bpd of production. \u00a0OPEC+ had previously planned to restore production between January and late 2025, but now that production cut won't be fully restored until September 2026. \u00a0OPEC Mar crude production rose +80,000 bpd to a 13-month high of 27.43 million bpd.<\/p>\n<p>Crude oil found support when the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control on March 20 sanctioned a China-based oil refinery and 19 entities and vessels tied to shipping Iranian crude oil. \u00a0The US is applying pressure to Iranian crude exports after President Trump recently sent a letter to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that said Iran has a two-month deadline to reach a new nuclear deal. \u00a0According to Rystad Energy A\/S, a maximum-pressure campaign could remove as much as 1.5 million bpd of Iranian crude exports from global markets, a bullish factor for crude. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Crude prices are being supported by tensions in the Middle East, which could lead to disruption of crude supplies from the region. \u00a0Israel continues to launch airstrikes across Gaza, ending a nearly two-month ceasefire with Hamas, and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed to act \"with increasing military strength\" to free hostages and disarm Hamas. \u00a0In addition, the US has launched strikes on Yemen's Houthi rebels, and Defense Secretary Hegseth said strikes would be \"unrelenting\" until the group stops attacking vessels in the Red Sea.<\/p>\n<p>In a supportive factor for crude oil prices, the US on January 10 imposed new sanctions on Russia's oil industry that could curb global oil supplies. \u00a0The measures targeted Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftgas, which exported about 970,000 bpd of Russian crude in the first 10 months of 2024, accounting for about 30% of its tanker flow, according to Bloomberg data. \u00a0The US also targeted insurers and traders linked to hundreds of tanker cargoes. \u00a0Russian oil product exports in March rose to a 5-month high of 3.45 million bpd, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from analytics firm Vortexa. \u00a0Weekly vessel-tracking data from Bloomberg showed Russian crude exports fell by -40,000 bpd w\/w to 3.13 million bpd in the week to April 13.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ads__inline\">\n<div id=\"js-dfp-tag-JFY\"  class=\"btf-bodymidpagetwothirdswidth-3\">          <script type=\"text\/javascript\">         googletag.cmd.push(function() {             \/\/ Check if ID matches ID in the window.adsList array before calling googletag.display             function isAdInAdsList(id) {             for (var i = 0; i < window.adsList.length; i++) {                 if (window.adsList[i].id === id) {                     return true;                 }             }             return false;         }         if (isAdInAdsList('js-dfp-tag-JFY')) {             googletag.display('js-dfp-tag-JFY');         }         });     <\/script> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The consensus is that Wednesday's weekly EIA crude inventories will climb by +1.55 million bbl, and EIA gasoline supplies will fall by -1.4 million bbl.<\/p>\n<p>Last Wednesday's EIA report showed that (1) US crude oil inventories as of April 11 were -5.2% below the seasonal 5-year average, (2) gasoline inventories were -0.9% below the seasonal 5-year average, and (3) distillate inventories were -10.2% below the 5-year seasonal average. \u00a0US crude oil production in the week ending April 11 was unchanged w\/w to 13.462 million bpd, modestly below the record high of 13.631 million bpd from the week of December 6.<\/p>\n<p>Baker Hughes reported last Thursday that active US oil rigs in the week ending April 18 rose +1 to 481 rigs, moderately above the 3-year low of 472 rigs posted on January 24. \u00a0The number of US oil rigs has fallen over the past two years from the 4-1\/2 year high of 627 rigs posted in December 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"body__disclaimer\">     On the date of publication,      Rich Asplund              did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy          here. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"body__disclaimer\">The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>        <script type=\"text\/javascript\">   \/\/ add oddAd class to every odd instance of body .ads__inline for different placeholder styles   let articleAds = document.querySelectorAll('.ads__inline');   for (let i = 0, len = articleAds.length; i < len; i++) {     \/\/ Do the below only if the curent count is less than 12     if ((i < 12) &#038;&#038; (i % 2 === 0)) {       articleAds[i].className += ' oddAd';     }   } <\/script>                                               <\/p>\n<div class=\"jupiter22-c-tags jupiter22-c-tags-default\">\n<h3 class=\"jupiter22-c-tags-title\">         Tags       <\/h3>\n<div class=\"jupiter22-c-tags-container\">Stocks<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May WTI crude oil (CLK25) Tuesday closed up +1.23 (+1.95%), and May RBOB gasoline (RBK25) closed up +0.0343 (+1.66%). Crude oil and gasoline prices on Tuesday settled moderately higher. \u00a0Tuesday&#8217;s stock rebound improved confidence in the economic outlook and boosted risk-on sentiment in asset markets, lifting crude prices. \u00a0Also, optimism the US can strike trade [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stock","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sharewatch.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}