Oil prices fall 2% after delinquent ship "Ever Given" partially floated

CAIRO – 29 March 2021: Oil prices fell during trading on Monday, by more than 2 percent, after the Suez Canal Authority succeeded in partially moving the delinquent Panamanian container ship "EVER GIVEN”.

Brent crude prices decreased by $ 1.4, equivalent to 2.1%, to reach $ 63.2 per barrel. US crude fell by about $ 1.5, or 2.4%, to hit $ 59.5 a barrel, according to Reuters.

Oil prices have witnessed remarkable fluctuations during the past days, as traders and investors sought to balance the impact of the suspension of navigation movement in the Suez Canal, and the wider impact of the closure measures aimed at combating the spread of the coronavirus.

Hundreds of other container ships, bulk cargo ships, and tankers loaded with oil are still waiting at both ends of the canal, but the news of the ship moving, pushed oil prices back immediately after it was trading slightly lower.

Earlier on Monday, the head of the Suez Canal Authority, Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, announced that the delinquent Panamanian container ship "EVER GIVEN" had begun to float successfully, after the ship responded to the tension and towing maneuvers, as the ship's course was modified by 80 percent, and the stern of the ship was 102 meters away from the coast , Instead of 4 meters.

It is scheduled to resume the maneuvers again with the rising water level to its maximum height from 11:30 am, when the water will reach two meters, allowing the ship's course to be completely modified to the middle of the shipping course.