Oil quotations changed little during the day on Thursday and ended the short week with an active rise.
June Brent futures on London’s ICE Futures Exchange rose $0.11 (0.13%) to $85.1 a barrel by 2:31 p.m.
By the same time quotations of WTI futures for May grew by $0.03 (0.04%) to $80.64 per barrel on the electronic auctions of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).
Both grades gained about 6% since the beginning of the week due to the unexpected decision of some OPEC+ countries to voluntarily lower oil production from May to the end of this year. Analysts believe this will lead to a shortage of fuel on the world market later this year.
The oil market was also supported by the data that last week the oil reserves in the USA dropped by 3.74 mln barrels, gasoline reserves – by 4.12 mln barrels and distillates – by 3.63 mln barrels. Analysts on average had predicted a more moderate decline in reserves in all three categories.
“The bullish momentum in the oil market may have subsided, but the upside potential remains given declining supplies,” wrote PVM Oil Associates Ltd. brokerage analyst Stephen Brennock. Stephen Brennock. – The market will experience shortages this quarter, and they will only intensify in the second half of the year.”
Brent and WTI will be traded only electronically on Friday as the world’s leading exchanges will be closed due to the holiday (Good Friday).
