New York: Oil prices climbed Monday afternoon, after the Norwegian oil field of Sverdrup, in the North Sea, was shut down following an incident in an electrical transformer station connected to the production site. Around 3:45 p.m. GMT (4:45 p.m. CET), the price of a barrel of Brent BRENT Brent, or North Sea crude, is a variation of crude oil serving as a benchmark in Europe, listed on the InterContinentalExchange (ICE), a stock exchange specializing in energy trading. It became the first international standard for setting oil prices. from the North Sea, for delivery in January, took 2,70% has 72,96 dollars.
Its American equivalent, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI WTI West Texas Intermediate (WTI), also called Texas Light Sweet, is a variation of crude oil that serves as a standard in setting the price of crude and as a raw material for oil futures contracts with the Nymex (New York Mercantile Exchange). ), the stock exchange specializing in energy.), for delivery in December, won 2,72% has 68,84 dollars.
???????? The stop “of Norway's largest oil field tightens the North Sea market” and drives up prices, explains Giovanni Stauvono, analyst at UBS, to AFP.
The Sverdrup oil field, operated by Equinor, in the North Sea, which has a production of approximately 755,000 barrels per day was temporarily stopped Monday afternoon, due to smoke spotted in one of the conversion stations connected to the production site operations.
“Work is currently underway to restore production on the ground“, Equinor spokesperson Gisle Ledel Johannessen told the newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv (DN).
Aside from the uncertainty over the duration of this production stoppage, prices nevertheless remain contained by the weakness of Chinese oil demand.
???????? China is the world's leading importer of black gold and the price of the resource is strongly correlated with the economic health of the country.
“Last week's Chinese inflation figures demonstrate the lack of immediate growth in both consumer spending and industrial activity“, explains John Evans, analyst at PVM.
The consumer price index – which measures inflation – for October increased by only 0,3% over one year, the weakest index in the last four months, demonstrating weak economic activity in China.
For 2025, the International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts growth in global demand of one million barrels of crude per day, but an increase in production of one and a half million barrels per day alone. for producers who are not members of OPEC+ (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies). This expected surplus of supply causes a downward trend in crude oil prices which have lost more than 7% last week.
(c) AFP
Commenter Oil on the rise, production shutdown at the main Norwegian production site
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