(London) Oil prices recovered on Friday after their sharp fall the day before, the market’s attention now focused on OPEC+, which meets next week and which could intervene to halt the fall in prices.
Around 5:10 a.m. (Eastern time) (11:10 a.m. in Paris), a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in January gained 0.89% to $78.11.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in December, gained 0.96% to $73.60.
This “marginal” rise in prices is not “a testimony of confidence”, according to Bjarne Schieldrop, analyst at Seb.
A stronger rebound “would have been a signal that yesterday’s sell-off was perhaps exaggerated and only the result of investors with long positions who rushed to the exit”, he explains, asserting that he “It is therefore likely that the decline will continue.”
The day before, the two global benchmarks had plummeted, both falling to their lowest levels since the beginning of July, at $76.60 per barrel for Brent, and $72.16 per barrel for WTI.
“Increasing crude oil inventories in the United States contributed to the fall” in oil prices well below $80, with “increasing inventories reinforcing fears over demand,” says analyst Han Tan. at Exinity.
Market attention is now focused on OPEC+ (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies), whose intervention is becoming increasingly likely as prices fall, according to analysts.
“OPEC “will have to move up a gear and give solid indications on what it intends to do in 2024,” says Bjarne Schieldrop.
For the analyst, the question arises as to whether “Saudi Arabia must bear the burden alone (with only a little help from Russia)” by further reducing its production, or whether “it could require certain others members of OPEC that they join with it to regulate the market.
The next ministerial meeting of OPEC+ members is scheduled for November 26 in Vienna, headquarters of the alliance.
“So far, it has been mainly Saudi Arabia, with a little help from Russia, which has proactively managed the oil market and the price of oil by making significant reductions,” recalls Mr. Schieldrop.
In April, the kingdom was still producing 10.5 million barrels per day, before reducing its current production level to 9 million barrels per day. Its ordinary production is around 10 million barrels per day, according to Seb.