(New York) Oil prices continued their decline on Thursday, while the return of oil ships from large shipowners to the Red Sea reassures the market, after fears of supply problems via this key area, where tensions remain high.
Thursday’s announcement of a reduction in commercial crude stocks in the United States last week did not help to support prices.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea, for delivery in February, which is the last day of trading, fell by 1.58%, to $78.39.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery the same month, plunged 3.15%, to $71.77.
“Oil prices are falling on light trading volume this week as more shipping companies announce they will resume Red Sea crossings,” commented Phil Flynn, analyst at Price Futures Group.
“The oil tankers […] having resumed their crossings of the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, thanks to the reassuring presence of a US-led maritime team in the region, this helped to allay some immediate concerns about supply problems, ” also explained Susannah Streeter, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Ships from the French shipowner CMA-CGM have indeed returned to the Red Sea after the attacks perpetrated by Houthi rebels from Yemen, and those from the Danish Maersk will do the same, the two maritime transport giants indicated on Wednesday.
“Some ships have transited through the Red Sea” and “we plan to gradually increase the transit of our ships through the Suez Canal” – which connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea –, CMA-CGM specified in a message to its customers, transmitted to AFP.
Maersk is preparing for its part to “resume navigation in the Red Sea towards the east as well as towards the west”, the Danish carrier reported on Sunday in a press release, noting that its first cargo ships would use the canal “as quickly as possible”. possible “.
“However, tensions remain high,” warned Mme Streeter.
The United States, for its part, announced Thursday a series of sanctions targeting the financing channels of the Houthi rebels, after their attacks on several commercial ships in the Red Sea. These sanctions target several people and entities in Yemen and Turkey involved in this financing.
Furthermore, investors digested the announcement by the American Energy Information Agency (EIA) of a greater than expected decrease in American weekly commercial inventories during the week ended December 22.
These stocks fell by 6.9 million barrels, while analysts forecast an average drop of 2.85 million barrels, according to a consensus established by Bloomberg News.
Gasoline stocks fell by 0.6 million barrels, a little more than analysts’ projections (-0.2 million).