Benchmark oil prices continued to decline slightly during trading on Wednesday after they plummeted to their lowest levels since July 21 a day earlier.
Quotes for January futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 7:05 a.m. amounted to $81.58 per barrel, which is $0.03 (0.04%) below the price at the close of the previous session. On Tuesday, these contracts fell by $3.57 (4.2%) to $81.61 per barrel.
The price of December futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in the morning fell by $0.21 (0.27%) to $77.16 per barrel. At the end of the previous session, it fell by $3.45 (4.3%) to $77.37 per barrel.
On Tuesday, the US Department of Energy downgraded its forecast for Brent prices for the current year to $83.99 per barrel from $84.09 per barrel, and for 2024 to $93.24 per barrel from $94.91 per barrel. The estimate for WTI for the next year has been downgraded by 1.8% compared to the October forecast – to $89.24 per barrel.
Among the factors that put pressure on oil prices, the agency notes a decline in global reserves, risks of supply disruptions, and the impact of voluntary production cuts by a number of OPEC+ countries.
