OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report, May 2021
Spot crude prices fell in April for the first time in six months, with North Sea Dated and WTI easing m-o-m by 1.7% and 1%, respectively. Similarly, the OPEC Reference Basket price declined $1.32, or 2.0%, in April, to settle at $63.24/b. However, year-to-date, the ORB was 41.6%, or $17.91, higher than the same period in 2020 at $60.97/b. Crude oil futures prices fell on both sides of the Atlantic, with the ICE Brent front month down 37¢, or 0.6%, to average $65.33/b, and NYMEX WTI front month fell by 65¢, or 1.0%, to average $61.70/b. Consequently, the Brent-WTI spread widened in April to an average of $3.62/b. The backwardation structure of all three major oil futures benchmarks lessened across the month. Hedge funds and other money managers slightly raised long positions in crude, recovering part of their net long positions from the sell-off seen in March, with gains concentrated mainly in Brent.
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