(London) Oil prices fell slightly on Friday as investors took profits after prices hit a four-month high on Thursday.
Around 6:25 a.m., the price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea, for delivery in May, fell 0.60% to $84.91.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery in April, fell 0.62% to $80.76.
The price of “oil fell slightly after reaching (Thursday) its highest level since early November,” noted Neil Wilson, analyst at Finalto, with investors taking the opportunity to take profits.
Furthermore, “possible delays in the rate reductions of the Fed (American central bank, editor’s note) after June” compared to the timetable hoped for by the markets, “associated with a still lethargic Chinese economic recovery” still constitute factors which weigh on prices, underlined Han Tan, analyst at Exinity.
A high interest rate environment tends to weigh on economic growth, and therefore on demand for crude oil.
On Thursday, both Brent and WTI reached their highest prices in more than four months, driven by “the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) modification of its forecasts for 2024, which went from a surplus to a deficit in global supply,” noted Han Tan.
The geopolitical risk premium had also pushed up crude prices earlier in the week. Because “a few days before the presidential election in Russia, Ukraine intensified its drone attacks against targets in Russia,” points out Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank.
An oil refinery was targeted by a drone on Wednesday in Ryazan, about 200 km southeast of Moscow, an attack which left people injured and caused a fire, the regional governor said.
“However, the impact on oil supply is not obvious,” says Carsten Fritsch. “Russia could indeed export more crude oil if less of it can be processed domestically due to refinery outages. »