London: Oil prices hesitated on Friday, after having climbed the day before, the market still assessing the possibility that Russian oil installations would be hit by Ukrainian fire. Around 11:50 GMT (12:50 CET), the 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 loses 0,47% has 73,88 dollarsafter opening the session higher.
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 the same month, falls by 0,54% has 69,72 dollars.
The Kremlin said Friday it was certain that the United States had “Understood” the message from Vladimir Putin in his speech the day before, where he claimed responsibility for the firing against Ukraine of a new missile designed to carry a nuclear warhead.
He also said Moscow reserves the right to strike Western countries that allow Ukraine to use their weapons on Russian soil.
“No matter what usage limits the UK and US impose on Ukraine, what the market fears is accidental destruction of oil, gas or refining facilities“, underlines Tamas Varga, analyst at PVM Energy, “which would cause long-term damage and also accelerate the spiral of war“.
In Iran, the situation is also tense, as the country announced on Friday that it would put into service “new advanced centrifuges” as part of its nuclear program, in retaliation for the adoption in Vienna of a resolution reminding Tehran of its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
On the other side, the market also takes into account “the monthly drop in Chinese oil demand, a hesitant OPEC+“on a possible continuation of voluntary production cuts and”a wild American dollar“, which increases the cost of the barrel, tempers Tamas Varga.
On the gas side, “the arrival of cold weather in Europe aggravates the situation and the dependence, although less (since the start of the conflict, editor's note), of the continent on Russian gas remains a real problem“, underlines the analyst.
The Russian gas giant Gazprom also interrupted its deliveries to Austria last weekend, which is still very dependent on this supplier, amid contractual disputes.
On Thursday, the American government announced a series of sanctions which target in particular the financial arm of Gazprom, Gazprombank, as well as around fifty other Russian banking establishments in order to limit “access to the international financial system” and reduce funding for the Russian war effort in Ukraine.
(c) AFP
Commenter Oil holds steady, the market underweighs the risks linked to the conflict in Ukraine
Community barrel price
