The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil continued to decline for the second session in a row with the price hovering around $78.20 per barrel today (Tuesday).
However, there are efforts by OPEC+ countries including Russia to implement voluntary oil production cuts. However, it still faces downward pressure.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies OPEC+ have agreed to extend voluntary oil production cuts amounting to 2.2 million barrels per day in the second quarter.
Saudi Arabia has announced its intention to extend its voluntary production cut of 1 million barrels per day.
Russia has also committed to reducing its oil production and exports by 471,000 barrels per day. In addition, Iraq and the UAE have agreed to further reduce their production by 220,000 and 163,000 barrels per day respectively.
Hamas and Egypt continue talks in Cairo aimed at securing a ceasefire in Gaza. Despite the increasing pressure from Washington to implement a ceasefire, Israel chose not to send its delegation to negotiate.
The decision hit a dead end when Hamas failed to release hostages on October 7 and release Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
Additionally, Houthi Telecommunications Minister Misfer Al-Numair said yesterday that ships must obtain permission from the Maritime Affairs Authority they control before entering Yemeni waters.
Meanwhile, China has promised to overhaul its economy at a time of sluggish growth since the Covid-19 pandemic.
They also vowed to change its economic development model and address industrial overcapacity. Setting the economic growth target for 2024 at about 5% the same as last year's objective is in line with analysts' projections.
Achieving this target is expected to increase fuel consumption by the world's largest importer of raw materials and at the same time support crude oil prices.
