FOMC and oil

Last night, was published the protocol of April meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee of the USA. Despite the soft rhetoric prevailing in the text of the press release, the content of the published protocol significantly increased the likelihood of a rate hike in the United States and caused a wave of selling in high-risk assets. According to the text of the protocol, the voting members of the Fed reported a decline in braking the risks of the global economy and the recovery in oil prices significantly improved the position of the US oil and gas companies, specializing in the extraction of raw materials from shale deposits. If trends continue, it could serve as a basis for a gradual tightening of monetary policy. FED will continue to monitor the situation in the US labor market and the change in retail prices. According to Bloomberg, the probability of a rate raise by 0.25% at the June meeting of the Committee has increased from 13% to 33% in the last day.
Oil prices retreated from their maximum values ​​for the current year against the strengthening of the US dollar and an unexpected increase in US oil stocks. According to the weekly report of the US Department of Energy, crude oil inventories increased by 1.3 mln. barrels while the market was expecting a drop in this indicator at 3 mln. barrels. Also, the additional pressure on oil
contracts had a slowdown in the reduction of production in the US for only 11 thousand barrels over the past week. Following the oil price, quotations of European oil and gas companies are also falling.