New York, (EFE).- The price of intermediate oil from Texas (WTI) closed this Friday with a strong rise of 3.9%, to 86.79 dollars a barrel, although it could not finish the week as a whole rise due to the severe fall of 5.7% on Tuesday, which pushed the value of crude oil to its lowest level since January on fears of a global recession.
At the close of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), WTI futures contracts for October delivery were up $3.25 from the previous close.
If the price of oil started the week down due to concerns about demand due to the imposition of new restrictions in China and predictions about an economic slowdown, investors were later encouraged by the threats made by Russian President Vladimir Putin , to halt the country’s oil and gas exports if European buyers impose price caps.
Likewise, the value of black gold has appreciated thanks to the fact that the dollar has lost a bit of steam against the rest of the currencies, after marking levels not seen in two decades.
However, the price of WTI was finally less than a tenth below the value registered at the close of last Friday (86.87 dollars a barrel).
Investors were not influenced in the final stretch of the week by the latest data from the United States Energy Information Agency (EIA), which yesterday reported that US oil inventories increased last week by 8.8 million of barrels, much more than expected.
They were also not affected by the energy crisis in the European Union, where the European Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, said that “the volatility of the energy futures market deserves to discuss the possibility of an intervention by the Commission.”
Faced with this situation, the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, also called today for governments to provide liquidity to solvent energy companies to avoid bankruptcies and maintain financial stability.
October natural gas futures contracts were up 8 cents to $7.99, and gasoline futures due the same month were up 8 cents to $2.43 a gallon.
