Oil flat this week as U.S. inventories rise but Russia set for supply cut

Crude oil prices finished little changed this week, as Russia's plans to cut oil production by 500K bbl/day in March were offset by the continued rise in U.S. crude inventories, which added another 7.6M barrels this week.

Meanwhile, a proxy for U.S. demand - the four-week average of gasoline product supplied - was at the second-lowest seasonal level since 2014.

Investors found more reasons to worry this week that the Federal Reserve would keep ratcheting up interest rates, as minutes from the latest Fed policy meeting indicated a majority of officials remained hawkish on inflation, signaling further monetary tightening.

On Friday, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge unexpectedly accelerated in January, and consumer spending surged last month by the most in nearly two years.

The trends are dampening some of the optimism that China's energy demand would bounce back strong with the end of COVID restrictions.

Front-month Nymex crude (CL1:COM) for April delivery settled -0.3% this week to $76.32/bbl, while April Brent crude (CO1:COM) ended +0.2% to $83.16/bbl.

Nymex natural gas for March delivery (NG1:COM) posted its best weekly gain so far this year, +7.7% to $2.451/MMBtu.

The U.S. oil benchmark is trading ~18% below the level seen on the eve of Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago.

ETFs: (XLE), (NYSEARCA:USO), (BNO), (UCO), (DBO), (SCO), (USL), (DRIP), (GUSH), (USOI), (NRGU)

Top 10 gainers in energy and natural resources during the past 5 days: (NASDAQ:ATLX) +100.9%, (EOSE) +34.6%, (NM) +17.4%, (SHIP) +17.2%, (SGML) +15.1%, (OBE) +14.6%, (EGLE) +13.9%, (GSM) +13.4%, (AROC) +13.2%, (OTTR) +13%.

Top 10 decliners in energy and natural resources during the past 5 days: (ALPS) -46.6%, (DFLI) -35.4%, (IREN) -32%, (STEM) -19.7%, (VAL) -16.9%, (AG) -16.7%, (AMLI) -16.5%, (PLL) -16.1%, (NRT) -15.7%, (GATO) -15.1%.

Source: Barchart.com