New York. The price of Texas Intermediate Oil (WTI) closed yesterday with a rise of 0.1%, to 88.20 dollars, with expectations placed on tomorrow’s OPEC+ meeting.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), WTI futures contracts for delivery in March added 5 cents on the dollar compared to the close of the previous session.
Benchmark US oil, which has risen 17% in the first month of the year, started with slight losses attributed to profit-taking, but then stabilized.
According to analysts, the market continues to expect supply and demand to remain tight after the monthly meeting of the OPEC+ alliance to review its production policy.
The group has gradually opened its taps since August adding 400,000 barrels a day more each month, despite calls for it to increase supply further in the face of rising fuel prices. “WTI seems willing to resume its upward trend as long as the Saudis do not give a surprise at the meeting and advocate a greater increase in production,” said analyst Edward Moya, from the firm Oanda.
The military tension between Russia and Ukraine, the geopolitical conflict in the Middle East and the global evolution of the covid-19 pandemic due to the omicron variant, more transmissible than others, also remained in the spotlight.
Meanwhile, natural gas contracts for March delivery fell 12 cents to $4.75 per thousand cubic feet, and gasoline contracts due the same month rose 2 cents to $2.57 a gallon.
Last Monday, the intermediate oil of Texas (WTI) had ended the day with an increase of 1%, reaching 88.15 dollars, and accumulated a 17% revaluation in the month of January, as reported. That day’s WTI futures contracts for March delivery totaled $1.33.
