WTI crude futures fell more than 1% to around $79 per barrel on Tuesday, retreating from an almost three-week peak of $80.6 touched in the previous session, after the US government announced plans to release 26 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves, countering the impact of Russian output cuts. Supply worries also eased after the EIA said it expected record March production from the seven largest US shale basins.
Meantime, the Ceyhan terminal in Turkey, which exports about 1 million barrels of crude per day, also resumed operations after being disrupted by a major earthquake last week. Keeping a floor under prices, OPEC has revised its 2023 oil demand forecast by 100,000 barrels per day, citing higher demand from China. On top of that, the cartel trimmed its supply outlook, saying it plans to stick with production quotas fixed late last year for the rest of 2023.