Oil prices ended higher on Friday after three consecutive sessions of decline, as the impact of the announcement of a massive use of crude reserves by several large consumers dissipates.
The price of a barrel of North Sea Brent for June delivery rose 2.18% in London to settle at $102.78.
Meanwhile, in New York, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in May gained 2.32% and closed at 98.26 dollars.
Prices rose sharply at the end of the day and WTI was even close to 100 dollars per barrel.
For Andy Lipow, of Lipow Oil Associates, the rise on Friday is due to purchases of coverage by operators who bet on lower prices.
With the weekend approaching and “with violence escalating” in Ukraine, these speculators did not want to be exposed to an event that could suddenly propel prices when the market reopens.
Ukraine fears a Russian offensive in the east of the country in the next few hours.
The market moved for much of the week due to the influence of the perspective of the use of strategic reserves by countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA) for a volume of up to 240 million barrels, to which was added a strengthening of the dollar -which makes the barrel more expensive for investors in other currencies- and massive confinements in China that could affect demand.
According to analysts at JPMorgan, Russian oil production “appears to show the first signs of weakening.” It went from 10.6 million barrels per day to 11 million, according to the bank.
According to JPMorgan, this drop could be due to the “difficulty of finding buyers” for Russian crude.
