Oil price today October 21, 2024: World crude oil slightly increased

World oil prices

According to data from TradingEconomics and Oilprice, world crude oil prices fluctuated slightly at the beginning of the week (at 6:40 a.m. on October 21, Vietnam time).

WTI crude oil sold at $69.40/barrel, up 0.18% on the day but still down 1.54% on the month and 18% year-over-year.

Brent crude also rose 163 cents per barrel to $72 per barrel, but was down 1% month-on-month and nearly 16.7% year-on-year.

This upward trend reflects the stability of crude oil consumption in major markets such as the US and China. However, OPEC and the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecast that global oil demand will decline in 2024 and 2025, to 1.93 million barrels per day in 2024 and 1.64 million barrels per day in 2025.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade also said that world oil prices last week were affected by factors such as tensions in the Middle East, OPEC lowering its oil demand forecast, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, leading to oil prices increasing and decreasing depending on the product.

Domestic gasoline prices

On October 21, retail gasoline prices according to the price list announced by Petrolimex in regions 1 and 2 (46 provinces and cities currently applying) are as follows:

E5 RON 92 gasoline is not more than 19,730 VND/liter.

RON 95-III gasoline is not more than VND 20,962/liter.

Diesel oil not more than 18,321 VND/liter.

Kerosene not more than 18,627 VND/liter.

Fuel oil not exceeding 16,090 VND/kg.

The above domestic retail price of gasoline was adjusted by the Ministry of Finance - Industry and Trade at the price management session on the afternoon of October 17.

Since October 2023, the Price Stabilization Fund (BOG) has not been used by the authorities, causing many questions for businesses and consumers. Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Bao said that the fund's management is unclear, leading to many businesses using it for the wrong purposes, reducing efficiency. He proposed transferring the fund to the Government or the Ministry of Finance for management to be more transparent.

Dr. Vu Vinh Phu said that the BOG Fund is essentially taking people's money to stabilize gasoline prices, whether gasoline prices increase or decrease, it depends on the operator and is not entirely decided by the market. Although many businesses want to abandon the BOG Fund and replace it with other tools such as taxes or gasoline reserves, it has not been accepted.

Some experts support maintaining the BOG Fund, saying that this is an economic measure to help stabilize the Vietnamese petroleum market, when there is still state intervention and low petroleum reserves. This fund helps reduce negative impacts on production, business and control inflation.