(London) After several days of decline, oil stabilized on Friday, caught between concerns about demand and Russia’s announcement of the easing of its export restrictions on diesel, under certain conditions.
Around 6:30 a.m. (Eastern time), a barrel of North Sea Brent for December delivery gained 0.05% to $84.12.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in November, gained 0.06% to $82.37.
The two global benchmarks were at their lowest levels since the end of August.
Brent had lost 14% and WTI 13% since Thursday of the previous week, when Brent was nearing $100 a barrel, and WTI was peaking at its highest level since August 2022.
At the heart of this decline lie “concerns about the outlook for the global economy and therefore oil demand,” according to Bjarne Schieldrop, analyst for SEB.
The message from the main central banks suggesting high interest rates for a prolonged period, combined with the surge in American bond rates, risks “harming the global economy and therefore the demand for oil”, details the analyst.
However, if the oil supply remained restricted from Saudi Arabia and Russia, Moscow has somewhat relaxed its export limitations on diesel.
“Restrictions on the export of diesel delivered to seaports by pipeline have […] been lifted, provided that the manufacturer supplies at least 50% of the diesel fuel produced in the domestic market,” Moscow said in an updated statement on the government’s Telegram account.
In September, Russia cut off its exports of diesel and gasoline to all destinations except four former Soviet republics, saying it wanted to relieve its domestic market, where fuel prices are soaring.
“These flows to Russia’s western ports represent the majority of the export volume,” DNB analysts noted.
On Friday, the benchmark European diesel contract, for delivery in October, consequently fell by 1.64% to around $854 per tonne.