(New York) Oil prices, up in the first part of the session, finally retreated on Friday, as investors were tempted to take their profits as the end of January approached, which was a good month for crude prices. .
A barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in March fell 0.92% to 86.66 dollars.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery the same month, fell 1.64% to 79.68 dollars.
During the week, crude prices were supported in particular by a good figure for US GDP growth, which rose to 2.9% in the fourth quarter at an annualized rate.
“The US GDP release did not disappoint,” said Stephen Brennock of PVM Energy.
The health of the world’s largest economy directly influences demand for crude since the United States is the world’s largest consumer of black gold.
But as the month ends next Wednesday, “commodity funds have decided to take their profits before the weekend instead of waiting for the last minute and uncertain events of next week”, explained Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group.
Over the week, Brent and Texan WTI prices fell 1.10% and 2% respectively.
The analyst recalled “the big topics that will create uncertainty for the market” next week, namely the monetary decision of the American central bank (Fed) on Wednesday 1er February, the meeting of the OPEC+ Ministerial Committee (JMMC) on the same day and the entry into force of new sanctions against Russia on February 5.
Moscow, for its part, banned from 1er February the sale of its oil to countries using the ceiling price imposed by the EU and the G7 in particular.
“For the Fed, the market is discounting a rate hike slowed to a quarter of a percentage point, but investors remain worried about the message that will accompany the decision and about the next rate hikes,” added Phil Flynn.
The broker believes, however, that overall “the fundamentals of the oil market are rather upward oriented”.
At the same time, China’s reopening is still fueling oil demand growth, even though the country is still facing a major wave of COVID-19 contamination.
On the supply side, DNB analysts predict a decrease in Russian production “over the next few months due to lower production from domestic refineries once the EU embargo and the G7 price cap on Russian petroleum products will enter into force” on February 5.