Asian LNG prices slide as concerns over supply ease – The Peninsula

Asian LNG prices slide as concerns over supply ease – The Peninsula

Doha: Oil prices settled higher on Friday, but posted a second straight weekly loss, after a volatile trading week with no easy replacement for Russian barrels in a tight market. Brent crude futures settled up $1.29, or 1.2 percent, to $107.93 a barrel, a day after surging nearly 9 percent in the biggest daily percentage gain since mid-2020. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled up $1.72, or 1.7 percent, at $104.70 a barrel, adding to the previous session’s 8 percent jump. Prices hit 14-year highs nearly two weeks ago, encouraging bouts of profit-taking since then.

The volatility of crude prices has been boosted by the supply crunch from traders avoiding Russian barrels and dwindling oil stockpiles. However, prices have been pressured by worries about demand with COVID-19 cases surging in China while stumbling nuclear talks with Iran have been a wild card on the market.

The volatility has scared some investors out of the oil market, which could exacerbate price swings. Meanwhile, output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies in February undershot targets even more than in the previous month, sources said. The International Energy Agency said oil markets could lose 3 million bpd of Russian oil