(New York) Oil prices fell for their fifth consecutive session on Thursday, remaining indifferent to the easing of restrictions in China, the blocking of oil tankers in the Black Sea and the shutdown of a US pipeline.
A barrel of Brent North Sea oil for February delivery fell 1.32% to close at $76.15. It established, in session, a new low for the year, at 75.74 dollars.
As for the barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI), with maturity in January, it fell by 0.76%, to 71.46 dollars. The benchmark variety in the United States had earlier fallen to $71.12, its lowest since late December 2021.
Prices rose briefly after news broke that the Keystone pipeline, which carries Canadian crude to the United States, was shut down due to a leak in Kansas.
But the market ended up going back into the red, the WTI approaching the symbolic threshold of 70 dollars, which it has not crossed for almost a year.
The easing of the anti-COVID-19 health system in China, initially presented as positive for the courses, because it should allow the resumption of economic activity, is finally greeted with circumspection by the operators.
“When you reopen” the cities subject, until now, to drastic measures, “it just means that the virus will spread more quickly among the population”, argued Eli Rubin, of EBW Analytics Group, “not that the coronavirus is gone”.
With a large part of the population unvaccinated and vaccines significantly less effective than their Western equivalents, “there is a really significant risk that the world’s largest importer of oil will see its health system overwhelmed” by an upsurge in new case, warns the analyst.
Added to this is the relative disappointment caused by the decision on Sunday by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies of the OPEC + agreement to maintain their production unchanged.
As for the entry into force of the price cap mechanism for Russian oil exported to destinations other than Europe, “it is an element of weakening of prices” and not of support, as imagined beforehand, according to Mr Rubin.
This system made it possible, according to the will of the United States, not to block Russian exports, while the set of sanctions initially adopted by the European Union planned to prohibit European insurers and carriers from participating in this activity.
The market seems, for the moment, to take little notice of the blocking of tankers loaded with Russian oil near the Bosphorus.
The Turkish authorities are asking shipowners for an insurance certificate that can be used even in the event of violation of the ceiling mechanism, which the insurers refuse to provide.
According to the Marine Vessel Traffic site, a dozen ships were still stationed in the Black Sea on Thursday, with the equivalent of several million barrels on board.
For Edward Moya, of Oanda, this is only a transitional disturbance, “which does not change the fact that the outlook for crude demand continues to deteriorate”.