On Thursday, benchmark oil prices are rising after falling a day earlier due to data on the growth of oil and oil products stocks in the United States.
Quotations for March futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 7:00 CET are $77.14 per barrel, which is $0.34 (0.44%) higher than the level at the close of the last trading session. On Wednesday, these contracts fell by $0.79 (1%) to $76.80 per barrel.
February futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in the morning rose in price by $0.27 (0.38%) to $71.64 per barrel. As a result of the previous trading, their quotes decreased by $0.87 (by 1.2%) and ended the day at $71.37 per barrel.
Commercial oil inventories in the United States last week increased by 1.338 million barrels, the Energy Department reported. Analysts on average had forecast a decline of 675 thousand barrels, according to Trading Economics.
Gasoline reserves jumped by 8.03 million barrels, distillate reserves – by 6.53 million barrels. Experts expected an increase of 2.49 million and 2.38 million barrels, respectively.
S&P Global Commodity respondents predicted an average decrease in oil reserves by 900 thousand barrels, as well as an increase in gasoline reserves by 4.9 million barrels and distillate reserves by 3.7 million barrels.
Meanwhile, the oil market is supported by attacks by Yemeni Houthis on ships in the Red Sea, MarketWatch reports. The fact that the incidents continue despite the actions of the US and UK navies in the region increases fears of a protracted conflict, forcing transport companies to look for workarounds to transport goods.
Another factor that puts upward pressure on prices is the suspension of oil production at Libya’s largest field, Sharara, with a capacity of 300 thousand barrels per day, due to political protests.
