(New York) Paradoxically, oil prices reacted with a sharp rise on Tuesday, to the announcement of a long-awaited initiative, coordinated between the United States and other countries consuming black gold, to release part of their strategic reserves, which on the contrary aimed to lower prices.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in January jumped 3.27% to 82.31 dollars.
In New York, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for the same month gained 2.22% to 78.50 dollars.
The United States and other consumer countries such as China, India, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom will release part of their strategic oil reserves, the White House announced on Tuesday.
The world’s leading economic power will market 50 million barrels of oil in the coming months.
Drawing on reserves is a “major initiative” which will “make a difference”, assured President Joe Biden on Tuesday evening.
By increasing the supply, the United States and its partners hope to mechanically lower prices.
But on Tuesday crude prices rose high in the green.
“It should be noted that the prices were already down for more than two weeks because of these speculations around the strategic reserves”, indicated Mark Finley, oil expert for the Baker Institute to explain how much this event had been telegraphed and already taken in account in the course.
As the market swirled for weeks at the prospect of a coordinated spill of strategic oil from Washington, crude prices had already lost, before the announcement, $ 5 to $ 6 a barrel since peaking at 87. dollars at the end of October for Brent.
Crude prices have also remained strong “because it is not clear how much oil will really land on the market, or how other countries will contribute,” added the expert.
Of the 50 million barrels that will be drawn from American reserves, 18 million will be sold. But 32 million barrels is an “exchange” or a loan that operators will have to repay later to replenish reserves, said the White House.
The impact of this measure, which aims to lower crude prices “may not last,” said Bart Melek of TD Securities, while global demand for oil remains higher than supply and the OPEC is sticking to its program of cautious restoration of its production.
For Louise Dickson, Rystad analyst, this decision “only pushes the problem of supply over time, and risks putting a strain on already low oil stocks”.
According to her, the initiative was “a clear message for OPEC” and a new stage in the “showdown” that continues between producers and consumers.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and ten allies, including Russia, are still largely restricting their production of black gold under the OPEC + agreement to support prices, despite the risk of inflation at the same time. weigh on the economic recovery.
Recourse to the strategic reserves of the United States and other countries could encourage OPEC + to limit the gradual increase in their production, and thus keep the overall level of supply unchanged.