(New York) Oil prices ended sharply higher on Wednesday, pushed by strikes on Russian refineries as well as a greater than expected decrease in American stocks of crude and gasoline.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea, for delivery in May, rose 2.57% to $84.03.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery in April gained 2.78% to $79.72.
“There were two factors in the price progression. It goes without saying that the report on the reduction of US reserves punctuated the upward trend in the market,” commented John Kilduff, analyst at Again Capital.
Crude reserves decreased by 1.5 million barrels in the United States during the week ending March 8, while analysts were banking on an increase, to the tune of one million barrels, according to an established consensus. by the Bloomberg agency.
As for American gasoline reserves, they fell much more than expected, falling by 5.7 million barrels while analysts expected a decline of 2.2 million barrels.
“This is the second week in a row that we have seen very strong demand for gasoline in the United States, which is not characteristic of this time of year. Almost like summer! “, car travel season, added Mr. Kilduff.
Crude prices were also supported by “the continuation of drone strikes on Russian refineries and oil infrastructure”, noted DNB analysts.
A new drone attack targeted an energy site in Russia on Wednesday, targeted for the second consecutive day from Ukraine.
SCREENSHOT OF VIDEO OBTAINED BY REUTERS
An oil refinery in Ryazan was targeted by a Ukrainian strike.
The attack targeted an oil refinery in Ryazan, about 200 km southeast of Moscow. In total, 58 drones targeted several Russian regions, notably those of Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk and Voronezh, all four bordering Ukraine, according to a press release from the Russian Ministry of Defense, ensuring that they were all destroyed.
DNB estimates that “Ukrainian strikes have damaged facilities representing more than 10% of Russian oil processing capacity over the past two days.”
“These overnight attacks on Russian energy infrastructure worry the market,” according to Mr. Kilduff, who points out that the Ukrainians have attacked this type of target “quite regularly recently.”
“If this continues, the market will discount a premium in prices taking into account the risk of a disruption in the supply of Russian energy to the market”, whether in production or export, the analyst further warned. from Again Capital.
Separately, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) slightly raised its demand estimate for 2024 to 104.46 million barrels per day, from 104.40 previously, in its monthly oil report released on Tuesday .