On Thursday, oil prices for benchmark brands adjusted upward after a strong drop in the previous days.
The decline is due to concerns about the possibility of a recession in the US economy and the resulting decline in fuel demand, Trading Economics writes. In addition, the situation in the banking sector of the country remains tense, which also negatively affects the sentiment of traders.
Meanwhile, the market was supported by data on the reduction of fuel reserves in the United States.
Quotations of June futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange by 8:01 a.m. amounted to $77.93 per barrel, which is $0.24 (0.3%) higher than the price at the previous session’s close. On Wednesday, these contracts fell by $3.08 (3.8%) to $77.69 per barrel.
The price of June futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) rose by $0.18 (0.2%) to $74.48 per barrel in the morning. At the end of the previous session, the value of contracts fell by $2.77 (3.6%) to $74.3 per barrel.
Last week, oil reserves decreased by 5.05 million barrels to 460.91 million barrels, according to the Ministry of Energy. Experts expected a decrease of 1.5 million barrels.
Gasoline reserves decreased by 2.41 million barrels, distillate reserves – by 577 thousand barrels. The average forecast of analysts was for a decrease of 1.5 million barrels and 1.08 million barrels, respectively.