(New York) Oil prices, particularly the US barrel, fell Thursday in a volatile session, where the United States said it was “thinking about all the tools” to boost supply, including the possibility of dip into their reserves, analysts said.
OPEC + turned a deaf ear to Joe Biden’s calls to further increase production, temporarily pushing up prices.
In response, a spokesperson for the US National Security Council (NSC) said on Thursday that the United States would “examine the full range of tools” at its disposal to address the “imbalance between supply and demand” of oil, which drives up prices.
In New York City, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for the month of December ended down $ 2.05 or 2.53% to reach $ 78.81 at almost a month’s low.
In London, the price of a barrel of North Sea Brent for January delivery fell $ 1.45 or 1.76% to $ 80.54, also returning to its level of a month ago.
“The market is full of rumors about a potential coordinated initiative to tap into strategic oil reserves to fight rising prices,” said John Kilduff of Again Capital.
At the end of two round meetings conducted by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their allies via the OPEC + agreement, the alliance decided on Thursday to limit the increase in its production to 400,000 barrels per day in December.
The twenty-three producers gathered by videoconference have therefore chosen not to deviate from their roadmap despite the insistence of consumer countries who called for a greater gesture to moderate the rise in prices.
This was seen “as a disappointment by the United States, which is asking for an increase closer to 600,000 barrels per day,” responded Ann-Louise Hittle, analyst at Wood Mackenzie.
The reaction of discontent from the White House suddenly caused prices to drop from mid-session.
“The recovery should not be weakened by an imbalance between supply and demand. OPEC does not seem to want to use its capacity and its power (on the supply of black gold) at this crucial moment of the global recovery, ”lamented a spokesperson for the National Security Council.
“The time has come for the main producing countries to stabilize energy prices and ensure that high prices do not hamper the current global economic recovery,” he added, appearing to refer to a coordinated initiative of the consuming countries to draw on reserves.
“We have spoken with energy consuming countries and we will be looking at the full range of tools available to us to build resilience and public confidence,” the official concluded.
Other nations greedy in black gold like India and Japan also urged OPEC + to react, without success.
“The fall in prices is linked to the market’s fear of a coordinated and truly robust initiative by consumer countries against rising prices,” explained John Kilduff, also indicating that Saudi Arabia could unilaterally decide to put more money in. black gold on the market.