Oil prices edged lower on Thursday following a highly volatile trading session, as investors systematically priced out geopolitical risk premiums after diplomatic talks between the US and Iran were extended, easing fears of an immediate military conflict.
The situation faced by LCT is described as a “double squeeze”: soft downstream olefin and polyethylene prices amid abundant regional supply, coupled with relatively firm naphtha feedstock costs.
US commercial crude stocks rose by 16 million barrels in the week ending 20 February, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported on Wednesday, bringing total inventories to 435.8 million barrels, roughly 3% below the five-year average.