Benchmark oil prices do not show a single trend on Thursday morning, as traders assess data on US stockpiles and await the OPEC+ ministerial meeting.
The price of January futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange at 7:00 a.m. was $82.95 per barrel, $0.15 (0.18%) lower than at the close of the previous session. The day before, these contracts rose in price by $1.42 (1.7%) to the highest since November 6 at $83.1 per barrel. They will expire at the close of the market on Thursday.
February futures, which are more actively traded, are rising in price by $0.16 (0.19%) to $83.04 per barrel.
Quotations for January futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by this time increased by $0.18 (0.23%) to $78.04 per barrel. At the end of the previous session, they rose by $1.45 (1.9%) to the highest since November 14 at $77.68 per barrel.
Commercial oil reserves in the United States last week increased by 1.609 million barrels, according to the weekly report of the country’s Energy Ministry published on Wednesday. This came as a surprise to analysts who had forecast an average decline of 933 thousand barrels, according to Trading Economics.
Gasoline reserves increased by 1.764 million barrels, and distillate reserves by 5.217 million barrels. On average, experts had expected an increase in gasoline stocks by 229 thousand barrels and a decrease in distillate reserves by 394 thousand barrels.
For their part, the OPEC+ ministers will try to meet again on Thursday (this time online) to review their strategy in the oil market. A face-to-face meeting of the countries participating in the agreement was scheduled for last Sunday, but was postponed a few days later.
