2024-03-17 02:37:15
Prices for benchmark oil continue to rise weakly on Thursday morning after a significant rise the day before.
As Day.Az reports with reference to Interfax, the price of May futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange is $84.11 per barrel, which is $0.08 (0.1%) higher than the closing price of the previous session. On Wednesday, these contracts rose in price by $2.11 (2.6%) to $84.03 per barrel.
Quotes of WTI oil futures for April in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in the morning rose by $0.02 (0.03%) to $79.74 per barrel. At the end of the last session, these contracts rose in price by $2.16 (2.8%) and reached $79.72 per barrel.
US oil inventories fell last week for the first time in seven weeks, indicating increased demand for fuel, Trading Economics notes.
In addition, factors contributing to the growth of quotations are the persistence of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, attacks by Ukrainian drones on Russian refineries and the extension of restrictions on oil production by OPEC+ countries, writes MarketWatch.
OPEC+ production cuts will remain one of the key factors supporting oil prices in the second quarter, says Global X Research Director Rohan Reddy. The outlook remains favorable, he said, “as the continued recovery of the US economy, coupled with recent pickup in demand from Chinese refineries, has helped anchor strong growth.”
The summer driving season is also about to begin, and that could “give further impetus to the rise” in oil prices, said Tariq Zaheer of Tyche Capital Advisors.
Commercial oil reserves in the United States fell by 1.54 million barrels last week, according to the weekly report of the country’s Department of Energy. This came as a surprise to experts, who on average expected an increase of 1 million barrels.
Meanwhile, gasoline reserves fell by 5.66 million barrels, distillates – increased by 888 thousand barrels. Analysts predicted a reduction of 2.2 million barrels and 1.05 million barrels, respectively.
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