Oil prices fell in and out of negative territory on Friday ahead of a meeting of International Energy Agency (IEA) member states held to discuss an emergency release of oil reserves along with a boost. US supply.
The benchmark Brent and WTI contracts are both on track to post their most significant weekly declines in two years, 13% and 12% respectively.
Oil prices fluctuated during the day as optimism about US supply increased and concerns about the need to pay for gas in Russian rubles.
Brent oil futures fell 0.5% to around $104 a barrel at 1055 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures fell 37 cents, or 0.4%, to $99.91. On Thursday, the price of Brent crude for delivery of the previous futures, which expired yesterday, fell 5.6% to close at 107.91 USD.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures fell nearly 1% to last trading at $99.39 a barrel after rising to a high of $101.75; contracts fell 7% on Thursday.
The US posted the most significant crude oil release on record from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) of 1 million bpd in the six months starting May.
Indeed, on Thursday, US President Joe Biden announced a release of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) over six months, starting in May, the most significant release ever from the SPR .
Member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) will meet on Friday to discuss an emergency release of more oil under a March 1 agreement to release about 60 million barrels, Reuters reported. .
While the planned release from the US is likely to include a disruption of Russian gas, oil-producing countries have stuck with modest supply plans in May, despite pressure to use technology. spare capacity to increase production further.
In fact, OPEC+, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, stuck with a plan to raise 432,000 bpd above their May output target despite pressure from West to add more.
Investors are also worried about the impact of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demand for gas payments in rubles starting today or the risk of a supply cut, which Germany calls “blackmail”.
However, oil prices could reverse if releases are scaled back or delayed or if delivery volumes are less than what the White House has mentioned, consulting firm Eurasia Group said in a note. .
