Oil prices recorded a weekly rise amid expectations of a scarcity of supply, due to the possibility of the OPEC+ alliance maintaining its current production cut, and also as a result of the ongoing attacks on energy infrastructure in Russia, and the decrease in the number of American oil exploration platforms.
Price movements
Brent crude recorded a weekly increase of 2.4 percent, reaching $87.48 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate crude recorded a weekly increase of approximately 3.2 percent, reaching $83.17 per barrel.
Both crudes achieved gains for the third month in a row, as both crudes rose by about 6.8 percent in a month.
During the first quarter of this year, Brent crude rose by about 13.25 percent, and West Texas crude rose by about 15 percent.
In the last session, Thursday, oil prices came under pressure after US crude oil and gasoline inventories rose unexpectedly last week, driven by a rise in crude imports and a slowdown in gasoline demand, according to Energy Information Administration data.
However, the increase in crude oil inventories was less than the American Petroleum Institute had expected, and analysts noted that the increase was less than expected for this time of year.
“We expect… US inventories to rise less than usual, a reflection of the global oil market, which is in a slight deficit. This is likely to support the price of Brent crude in the future,” Bjarne Schildrup, senior commodities analyst at SEB Research, said in a note. .
Prices also received support from US refinery operating rates, which rose 0.9 percentage points last week.
The number of oil and gas exploration rigs, an early indicator of future supply, fell by three rigs to 621 in the week ending March 28, according to data from energy services company Baker Hughes.
“Markets agree that both the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank will begin cutting interest rates in June,” JP Morgan analysts said in a note.
Low interest rates support demand for oil.
Investors will await indicators from next week’s meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee for Production Monitoring of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Growing geopolitical risks have raised expectations of potential supply disruption, but the OPEC+ alliance is unlikely to make any changes to oil production policy until the full ministerial meeting in June.
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