WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Crude oil slid on Monday, giving back ground from the previous session, where it soared more than 2% as traders resorted to profit taking. The resumption of production in Kazakhstan also contributed to the fall, while geopolitical tensions in the Middle East limited the decline.
WTI Crude Oil for March delivery was last seen trading at $60.65 per barrel, down by $0.42 (or 0.69%).
Today, traders opted to monetize the surge in prices when oil surged over 2% from the previous session to $61.07 per barrel.
Tengizchevroil, which operates the giant Tengiz oilfield in Kazakhstan, announced that it has resumed production.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium announced returning to full loading capacity at the Black Sea terminal.
On January 22, an outage was confirmed by the nation's ministry of energy when it reported that the gas turbine units at Tengiz have been shut down since January 18.
Before the shutdown, Tengiz was producing around 360,000 barrels per day of crude oil.
The Iranian government unleashed violence on civilians who took to streets to protest against the ruling clerical regime's incompetency to combat soaring inflation and plunging currency value.
Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's warnings to address the issue peacefully, the Iranian authorities executed several demonstrators, imprisoned thousands, and still continue to arrest injured protestors from clinics and hospital.
Human rights groups have estimated that more than 5,000 have been killed in the uprising.
The official Mizan online news portal quoted the judicial chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejeihead asserting that the instigators of the uprising would be punished without any leniency.
Following this, U.S. naval forces moved to the Persian Gulf and Trump confirmed sending an 'armada' toward Iran.
Iranian Guards Commander General Mohammad Pakpour issued a counter-threat stating they have the 'finger on trigger.'
The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and three accompanying destroyers are nearing Iran.
Concerns of output-supply disruption in the Middle East have ascended to new highs as Iran is the fifth largest crude oil producer in the OPEC, extracting nearly 3.3 million barrels per day.
Iran also has strategic control over a critical chokepoint for global oil transit, the Strait of Hormuz.
Separately, in a note released by JPMorgan, analysts stated that the winter storm, Fern, that hit the U.S. coast last week forced shutdowns across several major crude producing facilities.
Nearly 250,000 barrels per day of crude output has been lost.
Production from Oklahoma's Bakken field and parts of Texas saw a decline.
The Greenland dispute that went on for a few weeks since mid-January that began after Trump wanted to take control of the island from Denmark defused last week after Trump announced that he had reached a 'framework' agreement on the issue with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated yesterday that security guarantees for Ukraine are completely ready and the peace document is 100% ready.
Negotiators from Russia and Ukraine met with the U.S. mediators in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E, on Friday and Saturday to work towards an agreement to end the Russia-Ukraine war. Talks are expected to resume on February 1.
Investors are also focused on Wednesday's announcement by the U.S. Federal Reserve to derive clues on the central bank's economic forecast. Based on the recent economic data, expectations for a rate cut are minimal.
Traders' attention is also drawn to the upcoming discussion in Congress on funding bills to run the government, with the current funding deadline ending by January 30. The threat of a partial shutdown looms over the U.S.
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