(New York) Oil prices ended in scattered order and close to balance on Thursday, on a market rather reassured by the holding up of demand but which is worried about too abundant supply, despite announcements from the OPEC+ alliance.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in May ended stable at $82.96.
A barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) due in April fell slightly by 0.25%, to $78.93.
The WTI was cut off in its momentum by crossing the technical threshold of 80 dollars on Wednesday, and has since weakened, accentuated by profit-taking.
Operators welcomed the rebound in demand for refined products in the United States, particularly for gasoline and diesel, revealed by the report from the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), published on Wednesday .
They were also pleasantly surprised by the surge in trade in China in January and February, whether exports or imports, a sign of an economic recovery.
Traders also welcome the approach of central banks to rate cuts, which could make the economy thirsty for black gold.
“But the market fears that supply will increase in the next six months,” explained Bart Melek of TD Securities.
“Large non-OPEC+ producers could compensate for the cuts” announced by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies.
Speakers also doubt the ability of OPEC+ members to keep their commitments, namely a reduction of 2.2 million barrels per day until the end of June.
According to a study by Platts, the cartel’s production remained unchanged in February compared to the previous month, after a much smaller reduction than announced in January.
For Bart Melek, OPEC+ is at the end of its possibilities when it comes to production cuts and will seek to gradually regain market share later this year, led by Saudi Arabia.
Furthermore, the risk premium linked to the situation in the Middle East is only worth “a few dollars”, according to Bart Melek, which is insufficient to push prices out of the narrow range in which they have been moving for a month.