Caspian oil pipeline exports halted International oil prices rose significantly on March 23

International crude oil futures prices closed significantly higher
on March 23 as crude oil exports from the Caspian oil pipeline came to a standstill and U.
S.
commercial crude inventories fell last week.

Light crude futures for May delivery rose $5.
66, or 5.
18%,
to settle at $114.
93 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange by the close of the day.
London Brent crude futures for May delivery rose $6.
12, or 5.
3%, to settle at $121.
6 a barrel
.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on March 23 that if Russian oil and gas are sanctioned and cannot export oil and gas, the global energy market will collapse
.
Russian companies are expected to face logistical and payment difficulties
in energy supply in April and May.

Novak warned that crude oil supplies from the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which has a capacity of about 1.
2 million b/d,
could be completely halted for two months due to damage to a berth in the Black Sea.

Novak also said there was no information that OPEC+ members had proposed to increase crude supply quotas and that it was too early
to discuss adjusting Russia's crude supply quotas due to sanctions.

According to media reports, due to the damage to the terminal due to the storm, the export of crude oil through the Caspian oil pipeline came to a complete halt on the 23rd, and the maintenance work will take at least a month and a half
.

Matt Smith, leading oil analyst for the Americas at KPLER, a market research firm, said the rise in oil prices was mainly due to the loss of blended crude exports from the Caspian oil pipeline, which exports an average of about 1.
3 million barrels
per day.
As Russian crude oil exports eventually look to be declining, this is further positive for oil prices
.

U.
S.
commercial crude inventories fell 2.
5 million barrels month-on-month at 413.
4 million barrels last week, compared with expectations of flat
month-on-month, according to the U.
S.
Energy Information Administration on March 23.
Over the same period, U.
S.
motor gasoline inventories and distillate inventories declined by 2.
9 million barrels and 2.
1 million barrels, respectively, while propane and propylene inventories increased by 300,000 barrels
month-on-month.
Including commercial crude, refined products, propane and propylene, U.
S.
commercial oil inventories fell by 6.
7 million barrels
month-on-month last week.

The data also showed that U.
S.
refineries processed an average of 15.
9 million barrels per day last week, an increase of 2.
76 million barrels month-on-month; U.
S.
refinery runs averaged 91.
1% last week, up from 90.
4% the week before; U.
S.
net crude imports averaged 2.
642 million barrels per day last week, down 817,000 barrels
month-on-month.

Notably, commercial crude inventories in the Cushing region stood at 25.
2 million barrels last week, an increase of 1.
2 million barrels month-on-month; U.
S.
strategic crude oil reserves fell 4.
19 million barrels month-on-month to 571.
3 million barrels last week, while U.
S.
crude oil production remained unchanged
at 11.
6 million barrels per day last week.

U.
S.
commercial crude inventories fell by 4.
28 million barrels
month-on-month last week, data released by the American Petroleum Institute late March 22.
U.
S.
gasoline and distillate inventories fell by 826,000 barrels and 626,000 barrels, respectively, last week, while commercial crude inventories in the Cushing region increased by 700,000 barrels
month-on-month.