Oil shows increased volatility amid fears of a crisis in the US banking industry

The beginning of the week is accompanied by increased volatility of trading in the oil market. The fact is that all market participants are still in a state of shock after the bankruptcy of one of the largest Silicon Valley banks in the United States. Investors fear a crisis in the US banking sector, which may follow the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

At the beginning of the trading day, Brent quotes collapsed overnight from the level of $83.35 per barrel to $78.35. By the evening, prices managed to recover to the level of $82.20 per barrel. North American WTI oil shows similar dynamics – a drop to the level of $72.70 per barrel and a subsequent recovery to $76.00. 

Recall that last Friday it became known that the American bank Silicon Valley Bank rapidly went bankrupt and came under the control of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). She transferred the bank's assets to a new legal entity and promised to provide full compensation to all depositors. The same fate befell the smaller New York Signature Bank.

Silicon Valley Bank was one of the 20 largest American commercial banks and cooperated with almost half of all venture technology and healthcare companies in the United States. At the end of 2022, its total assets amounted to $209 billion. 

After the incident, the US Federal Reserve System announced a new mechanism for providing funds to financial institutions to make sure that they have the ability to meet the needs of all their depositors. The US Treasury will allocate up to $25 billion from the stabilization fund to support this program.