(London) Oil prices picked up on Thursday after falling the day before, a few hours before the ministerial meeting of members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their allies via the OPEC + agreement.
At around 6:35 a.m., the price of a barrel of North Sea Brent for January delivery was up 1.76% from Wednesday’s close to $ 83.43.
In New York, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for the month of December appreciated 1.48% to 82.06.
On Wednesday, the two benchmark contracts lost more than 3%, weighed down by a larger-than-expected rise in US crude stocks and the announcement of the resumption of negotiations to save the agreement on the Iranian nuclear program, on November 29. in Vienna.
“Yesterday’s performance provided the perfect excuse for the OPEC + alliance to maintain its initial program and increase the level of production by 400,000 barrels per day for December,” notes Tamas Varga, PVM analyst.
Most analysts are banking on this scenario despite the appeal of consumers, led by the United States, who want the cartel to open up the tap of black gold to relieve prices.
“Many members (of OPEC +) are already operating at the limit of their production capacity,” said Ricardo Evangelista, analyst at Activtrades, a factor that would also push producers to stick to their current strategy .
“With the prospect of Iranian oil returning to the markets, it is unlikely that OPEC members will agree to pump more oil,” adds Mr. Evangelista.
A favorable outcome of these negotiations would logically sign Tehran’s medium-term return to the black gold market, which could result in an additional supply of around 2 million barrels per day.
The ministers of the twenty-three OPEC + countries meet by videoconference at 10 a.m. EDT (3 p.m. in Paris and Vienna, at OPEC headquarters) after a first technical round table scheduled an hour earlier.