(New York) Oil prices continued with a second positive session on Friday, spurred by the approach of the weekend which pushes operators to hedge before possible major geopolitical developments in the Middle East.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in June nibbled 0.55%, to close at $89.50.
A barrel of American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) of the same maturity gained 0.33%, to $83.85.
For José Torres, of Interactive Brokers, “tension has increased a little in the Middle East” in recent hours, which has supported black gold.
Missiles were fired at Israel from southern Lebanon overnight from Thursday to Friday, while Israeli military aircraft struck targets belonging to the pro-Iranian Lebanese movement Hezbollah.
In addition, the United States said on Friday that it had shot down two drones in areas of Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels, which had launched an anti-ship ballistic missile into the Gulf of Aden, without causing damage.
“People are always anxious about what could happen over the weekend” on the geopolitical front and are positioning themselves rather upwards, according to Andy Lipow, of Lipow Oil Associates, “because the news, when there is any, are generally bad and likely to drive up prices. »
However, Brent stumbled on the symbolic threshold of 90 dollars, above which it has not traded for a week, before falling back slightly.
“The market remains confined within a range” that is quite tight, “capped by demand that is weaker than expected and limited,” on the downside, “by concern over a possible disruption of supply in the Middle East,” explains Andy. Lipow.
“The oil market is quite balanced at the moment” between supply and demand, declared Friday the CEO of the American oil company Chevron, Mike Wirth, during a conference call to present the group’s results.
“Global economic growth remains decent and while demand is not growing as strongly as last year, it continues to increase,” he added.
On Friday, crude oil was also supported by the announcement of a further drop in the number of wells currently operating in the United States. It is 14% lower than last year at the same time, according to figures published by the oil services group Baker Hughes.