Crude oil futures closed 10 per cent during the calendar year 2023 due to the concerns over the increase in global supplies and decrease in the demand for the commodity. Crude oil prices had seen a growth of more than 7 per cent in 2022 due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
However, there were some short rallies in the market during the calendar year 2023 due to the factors such as the production output cuts by the OPEC (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) and its allies, known as OPEC+. Expectations on interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve and the war between Israel and Hamas, which began in October, also led to rallies in the market.
Non-OPEC nations hike output
However, the increase in crude oil production by non-OPEC countries and uncertainty in demand outlook for the commodity brought down the price of the commodity during the year.
Added to this, the US also increased the production of crude oil. There was higher production from the countries such as Brazil and Guyana.
The last month of 2023 saw the exit of Angola from OPEC+ and the incidents of attack on merchant vessels in the Red Sea region.
At the end of the session on December 30, March Brent oil futures closed at $77.07, down by 0.10 per cent; and February crude oil futures on WTI (West Texas Intermediate) were at $71.33, down by 0.61 per cent. International markets were closed on Monday.
Turmeric gleams, jeera cools
At 9.53 am on Monday, January crude oil futures were trading at ₹6003 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) against the previous close of ₹6007, down by 0.07 per cent; and February futures were trading at ₹6041 as against the previous close of ₹6044, down by 0.05 per cent.
January lead futures were trading at ₹182.65 on MCX in the initial trading hour of Monday morning against the previous close of ₹182.90, down by 0.14 per cent.
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), April turmeric (farmer polished) contracts were trading at ₹14,240 in the initial trading hour of Monday morning against the previous close of ₹14,116, up by 0.88 per cent.
January jeera futures were trading at ₹30,300 on NCDEX in the initial trading hour of Monday morning against the previous close of ₹30,995, down by 2.24 per cent.