The volatility of high international oil prices

International crude oil prices showed a high volatility trend last week (April 15-19). Light crude oil futures rose 0.17% and Brent crude oil futures rose 0.59%. The decline in Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports and the decline in U.S. crude oil stocks have supported international oil prices, while the hesitation of Russia and some OPEC oil-producing countries to cut production has put pressure on oil prices. The price of light crude oil futures for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by $0.24 to close at $64.00 a barrel, or 0.38%, as of the close of the 18 th session. London Brent crude oil futures for June delivery rose $0.35, or 0.49%, to $71.97 a barrel.

Joint Organisation Data Initiative (JODI) data show that Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports in February fell by 277,000 barrels/day annually, to less than 7 million barrels/day. The data also showed that OPEC crude oil production further decreased by 534,000 barrels per day in March to 3,022,000 barrels per day. The total implementation rate of output cuts in 11 OPEC member countries has reached 155%.

Data released by the U.S. Energy Information Agency on the 17th showed that the previous week, U.S. crude oil, gasoline, distillate oil inventories were declining annually, which boosted oil prices. The number of active drilling rigs in the United States dropped 8 to 825 last week after rising for two consecutive weeks, according to data released by Baker Hughes, an oil service company. Recently, there have been reports that Russia is considering whether to increase production and compete for market share with the record-high United States, which is also the main factor leading to international oil price shocks.