(New York) Oil prices ended slightly lower on Tuesday after jumping earlier in the session, an inflection similar to that of Monday, reflecting a market that fears a slowdown in demand.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in November fell by 0.09%, to close at $94.34.
As for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), due in October, it lost 0.30%, to $91.20.
The two reference varieties started the session with a bang, Brent gaining up to 1.62% and WTI, 2.47%.
This initial boost was due, in particular, to the approach of the expiration, Wednesday, of the October futures contract on WTI, which accentuates price volatility, explained Andy Lipow, of Lipow Oil Associates.
The outcome of these contracts is, moreover, complicated by the fact “that stocks are low in Cushing”, we are the main terminal for taking delivery of WTI, located in Oklahoma, recalled the analyst.
The level of reserves there fell last week to its lowest level since the beginning of December.
Furthermore, Andy Lipow also mentioned the military operation launched by Azerbaijan in Nagorno Karabakh, a territory disputed for decades with Armenia.
“People are worried about possible disruptions to production in Azerbaijan, which seems unlikely in the short term,” according to Andy Lipow. The former Soviet republic produces around 500,000 barrels of crude per day.
But after this strong start, like Monday, the market cut the engine mid-session, before finishing at a steady pace.
While prices have been driven almost exclusively by demand for several weeks, due to the promise of Saudi Arabia and Russia to jointly reduce their volumes by 1.3 million barrels per day until the end of the year, operators are now scrutinizing demand.
The wholesale price of gasoline in the United States continued a third consecutive session of decline on Tuesday, echoing the sharp increase in American fuel reserves in the latest weekly report from the American Food Information Agency. energy (EIA).
In Europe, after taking off, its equivalent has been stalling for a week.
“The major travel season is over” in the United States, “and, what’s more, we haven’t had a hurricane that has disrupted” production or distribution in the Gulf of Mexico region, underlines Andy Lipow, for whom “gasoline is now under pressure”.