(New York) Oil prices fell on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin having assured that Russia was maintaining all its deliveries of hydrocarbons, despite Western sanctions.
Posted at 3:45 p.m.
The barrel of Brent from the North Sea, the benchmark for black gold in Europe, for delivery in May fell 1.62% to 109.33 dollars.
A barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery fell 2.46% to $106.02.
Mr Putin insisted on Thursday that “all volumes” were being delivered to Europe as elsewhere and that even “Ukraine’s gas transport system is 100% full”.
This gas pipeline network is one of the key gas arteries for supplying the European continent, 45% of whose gas imports come from Russia.
According to Mr. Putin, therefore, the surge in gas and oil prices on world markets has nothing to do with Russia as prices have reached their peaks since Russian forces entered Ukraine en masse.
“The risk of further disruption remains high,” said Oanda analyst Craig Erlam, however, “especially with new sanctions coming that will make life more difficult for Russia and companies less willing to do business with it.”
On Wednesday, the United Kingdom urged all G7 countries to “end their use of Russian oil and gas”, like London and Washington, in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
Crude oil supply is still very tight. On Thursday, the United Arab Emirates affirmed that it would respect the very gradual increase commitments made within the framework of the alliance of exporting countries OPEC + (OPEC and its allies) which includes Russia.
“The Emirates believes in the value that OPEC brings “to the oil market. We are committed to the agreement within OPEC “and the current monthly production adjustment mechanism,” Emirati Energy and Infrastructure Minister Souheil al-Mazrouei tweeted on Thursday. .
The day before, the ambassador of the Emirates in Washington, Youssef Al Otaïba, had nevertheless said he was in favor of an increase in production, a glimmer of hope to curb the surge in the price of black gold.
Mixed messages that “leave the market in uncertainty as to their true position on the issue, which creates conditions that could lead to greater price volatility”, comments Ricardo Evangelista, analyst at ActivTrades.
For Daniel Ghali of TD Securities, these tensions within OPEC + on Thursday removed the risk premium included in the prices, because they suggest “a potential sign” of an increase in production.
Oil-exporting countries are being called upon to curb soaring crude prices fueled by the war in Ukraine, particularly after the decision by the United States and the United Kingdom to stop importing oil from Russia (the second largest crude exporter in the world, behind Saudi Arabia) in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
“The United Arab Emirates will not act on its own to increase oil production,” said Carsten Fritsch, an analyst for Commerzbank.
At their last meeting, the OPEC+ countries had stuck to a modest increase in their production, despite the surge in prices. A greater increase could however be decided at the next meeting of the alliance, on March 31, according to the analyst.