(New York) Oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday, boosted by the prospect of a possible OPEC production cut, mechanical problems at a major Black Sea terminal and expectations of a new decline in US black gold reserves.
Posted at 5:13 p.m.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude from the North Sea, for delivery in October, gained 3.87%, to 100.22 dollars, for the first time above 100 dollars at the close in three weeks.
The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), also due in October, which was the first day of use, took him 3.74%, to 93.74 dollars.
“For a month, the market had been very focused on the drop in demand in the United States” and China, with the fear of a global recession, “and prices had fallen,” recalled Eli Rubin, of EBW. AnalyticsGroup. “There, we focus again on the offer. »
Headlined by Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman, who spoke of a possible production cut by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its OPEC+ allies to stabilize prices, which he believes are too volatile and disconnected from the real economy.
Several representatives of countries of other OPEC members, quoted on Tuesday by the wall street journalon condition of anonymity, said they were open to such an option, especially in the event of new signals announcing a recession.
Reuters quoted indirect sources as saying that a production cut was not imminent and that it would largely depend on the outcome of the Iranian nuclear talks.
The other spotlight on the offer came from Russia. Operators of the CPC (or KTK) pipeline, which carries the bulk of Kazakh oil exports to Russia’s Novorossisk terminal on the Black Sea, have closed two of the three damaged offshore refueling points.
Supplies for tankers are only made via a single point, the third, which limits the volumes exported, until further notice.
Last source of tension on the market, Tuesday, the prospect of a further significant drop in crude stocks in the United States, which are already 6% below the average of the last five years at the same time.
Analysts forecast a contraction of 2.5 million barrels over the week, before the publication of the official figure on Wednesday.
Elsewhere in the energy market, American natural gas on Tuesday recorded a new high for 14 years, at 10,028 dollars per million British thermal units (BTU), the Anglo-Saxon benchmark.
Unlike Europe, the United States is self-sufficient in natural gas, but operators are concerned about the low level of stocks as the cold season approaches, according to Eli Rubin.
“Some fear that in the event of an extremely cold winter, the United States will not be able to meet its needs and export to Europe,” he says, which would put the latter in even more difficulty. .