• U.S. oil prices hold near $90 a barrel

Joy Wiltermuth and Joseph Adinolfi, MarketWatch

NEW YORK
Energiesnet.com 09 21 2023

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Crude oil prices ended slightly lower Thursday, but near the highs of 2023, after the Russian government said it was temporarily banning exports of gasoline and diesel, adding to global supply woes expected through year-end.

That meant a third day of declines for oil, a day after the Federal Reserve signaled it would keep its policy interest rate above 5% through next year.

Price action

• West Texas Intermediate crude CL00, 0.77% CLX23, 0.77% for November delivery fell 3 cents, or less than 0.1%, to settle at $89.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, booking at third day of declines, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
  
• November Brent crude  BRN00, 0.60% BRNX23, 0.60% lost 23 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $93.30 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
  
• October gasoline RBV23, 0.48% rose 7 cents to $2.62 a gallon
  
• October heating oil HOV23, 1.15% gained 1.2% to end at a $3.368 a gallon.
  
• November natural gas NGX23, 0.28% fell 2.8% to settle at $2.84 per million British thermal units.

Market drivers

Russia said it was immediately enacting a temporary ban on exports of gasoline and diesel to bolster the domestic market, ahead of the crucial winter heating months.

“Oil markets are focused on the near-term supply deficit through year-end,” said Troy Vincent, senior market analyst at DTN, in an interview, adding that Moscow’s new export ban compounds earlier production cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia are helping keep crude pricing elevated heading into the winter months.

Russia said it would continue exports to a small group of former Soviet countries and continue to fuel the Russian military.

“Russia is trying to stabilize the domestic situation, which means only ex-Soviet states will have access to their exports,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA, in emailed commentary. “The oil market just finished pricing in the extension of a 300,000 bpd oil export cut, and now faces uncertainty as to how long this temporary ban will last.” 

marketwatch.com 09 21 2023