New York (awp/afp) – Oil prices ended slightly higher on Thursday, but the semblance of momentum that began on Wednesday after the report on American stocks has already almost disappeared, due to lack of enthusiasm.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in July increased by 0.35%, to close at $83.88.
A barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) due in June gained 0.34%, to $79.26.
“The markets are calm, for whatever reason,” observed John Kilduff of Again Capital.
After “a deluge (of news and economic data) of two or three weeks”, “things have calmed down”, confirms Christopher Vecchio, of Tastylive.
On Wednesday, black gold had regained some color after falling to an eight-week low, thanks in particular to the weekly report from the American Energy Information Agency (EIA).
It reported a drop of 1.4 million barrels in US commercial stocks last week, while analysts were only expecting a contraction of 1.1 million barrels.
Operators also noted the acceleration of American refineries, whose utilization rate rose to 88.5% of their capacities, compared to 87.5% the previous week.
But on closer inspection, says John Kilduff, “the figures were lackluster, particularly with regard to gasoline demand”, lower by more than 5% compared to last year at the same time.
Excluding the three years disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic (from 2020 to 2022), we have to go back almost a decade to find evidence of lower volumes delivered to the American market at this time of year.
On the geopolitical level, “we continue to monitor the situation” in the Middle East, “as usual, but there has been no development likely to destabilize the current balance”, with a WTI price close to $80, argued John Kilduff.
For the analyst, prices cannot count on the prospect of an extension, beyond June, of the cuts in their production decided by several members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their allies in the OPEC+ agreement, which is already integrated by the market.
“They have no more ammunition,” believes John Kilduff, for whom the next OPEC+ meetings – the first being scheduled for June 1 – “will be neutral, even bearish” for crude prices.
“Producers who have come forward recently have even mentioned possible increases in production,” recalls the analyst.
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