Oil prices are moderately rising on Friday morning after a sharp decline in the previous session.
The price of March futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange by 7:09 a.m. is $77.59 per barrel, which is $0.44 (0.57%) higher than at the close of the previous session. On Thursday, these contracts fell by $2.39 (3%) to $77.15 per barrel.
Quotes for February futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by this time increased by $0.31 (0.43%) to $72.08 per barrel. At the end of the previous session, they fell by $2.34 (3.2%) to $71.77 per barrel.
Analysts say the main reason for the drop in oil prices on the eve of the previous day is the reduction of fears about attacks by Yemeni Houthis on transport vessels. In particular, on Wednesday, the Danish transport and logistics company A.P. Moeller-Maersk AS announced the resumption of transportation through the Red Sea after the implementation of an international mission to ensure security in the region.
“Oil prices have fallen as global transportation giants prepare to resume navigation in the Red Sea despite attacks by Houthi rebels,” wrote Stephen Innes, managing partner of SPI Asset Management. – “It’s a calculated risk and a bet on the success of the international security mission.
The quotes could not be supported by the data on oil and oil products stocks in the United States published the day before.
Commercial oil reserves in the United States last week fell by 6.911 million barrels, while analysts on average had forecast a decline of 2.7 million barrels, according to Trading Economics. The decline in stocks was a record for four months.
Stocks at the Cushing terminal, where NYMEX-traded crude is stored, increased by 1.508 million barrels. This is the tenth consecutive week that Cushing stockpiles have increased, which has not been seen since 2016.
