New York (awp/afp) – Oil prices climbed again on Friday, finally managing to escape the corridor in which they have been operating since October, thanks to the start of the year and the hope of positive developments in the United States and in China.
A barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in March gained 0.76%, to close at $76.51.
As for the American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) with maturity in February, it gained 1.13%, to 73.96 dollars.
Brent and WTI recorded their fifth positive session in a row and are now at their highest level in two and a half months.
For Susannah Streeter, of Hargreaves Lansdown, operators welcomed the drop in US crude stocks, announced on Wednesday by the US Energy Information Agency (EIA), even if it was less than expected by analysts.
These commercial reserves are 3.6% lower than their level last year at the same time. They had not been this low at this time of year for ten years.
“We are coming out of this range where we have been for two months and we are now looking forward,” commented Stephen Schork, of Schork Group.
The analyst mentions the latest developments in the Middle East, which have notably seen Israel increase strikes on Syrian territory to prevent the arsenal held by the government under the Bashar al-Assad era from falling into the hands of the coalition of rebels who overthrew him.
For Stephen Schork, the market is also “excited by the prospect of a new American government which is clearly favorable to oil and gas”.
Future President Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on January 20, intends to encourage the extraction of fossil energy sources, which could further increase the already abundant supply of black gold, a negative element for prices.
But the Trump administration could also turn away from renewable energy, notably by reducing tax benefits and public investments, which could lead to an increase in demand for oil.
The surge in prices is also based on “the hopes of new stimulus measures in China”, according to Susannah Streeter.
Stephen Schork notes that the Chinese authorities decided this week to raise the salaries of many civil servants, a first in ten years, a sign of economic voluntarism, considered insufficient until now.
As for the cold wave which is arriving from the north and will affect many American states, it did not affect prices on Friday, according to the analyst, who underlines that the price of natural gas and fuel oil, considered as markers most relevant to heating demand, have declined.
tu/nth
