(London) Oil prices remained in the green on Wednesday, before the publication of the state of US oil inventories by the US Energy Information Agency (EIA), supply tensions persisting.
Posted at 7:43 a.m.
Around 5:25 a.m., a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in August took 0.75% to 121.48 dollars.
A barrel of US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for July delivery rose 1.01% to $120.62.
“The continuing intensity of the war in Ukraine heightens concerns that supply constraints will continue,” said Susannah Streeter, analyst for Hargreaves Lansdown.
Oil prices are also finding support in the event of a strike that could be imminent in the Norwegian oil and gas industry, according to Carsten Fritsch of Commerzbank. Norway is a major European oil and gas producer.
“The only thing that could slow the oil rally is a drop in demand,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, analyst for Swissquote.
On Wednesday, the OECD sharply lowered its anticipation of global growth to 3%, against 4.5% in its estimate last December.
The consequences of the war in Ukraine could cause inflation to soar to 8.5% among OECD member countries in 2022, warns the international organization in its latest economic forecasts. A level twice as high as that which it anticipated in December.
The market is also awaiting the publication of the state of American oil stocks by the EIA. “Oil inventories in the United States fell sharply last week, adding to the positive pressure on prices,” recalls Ipek Ozkardeskaya.
The American Petroleum Institute (API), whose data is deemed less reliable than that of the EIA, reported on Tuesday a rise of 1.8 million barrels in US crude oil reserves.
“If that’s the case, we could see some short-term relief on oil prices,” says Ms.me Ozkardeskaya.
But, according to the median of a consensus compiled by Bloomberg, analysts expect a drop of 2.5 million barrels in commercial crude reserves.