Oil Is Close to The Highest Since the End of November

U.S. oil rose for the sixth consecutive trading day on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Brent crude oil rose, and the global market broadly supported prices.

As of 0101 GMT, the benchmark Brent crude oil rose 23 cents, or 0.3%, to $79.17 per barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil rose 21 cents, or 0.3%, to $76.19 per barrel.

With the help of the strong stock market, the trading prices of these two contracts are close to their highs.

Asset classes ranging from oil to stocks had recovered their losses from the end of November when the Omicron variant of COVID-19 made investors seek safety.

The delays in the U.K. and France implementing more COVID-19 prevention and control measures before the end of the year have also excited investors. As the most serious concerns about the impact of this variant fade, investors have returned to risky assets.

Omicron’s staff shortage caused the cancelation of thousands of flights during the Christmas weekend in the United States.

Three Leading Oil Producers Announced Force Majeure for Their Oil Production

Due to maintenance issues and the closure of oil fields, the three producers announced force majeure for some of their production this month, which supported oil prices.

Zhou Zhitou’s preliminary survey showed that U.S. crude oil inventories may have fallen for the fifth consecutive week. Meanwhile, gasoline inventories were flat last week.

The poll was conducted before the industry organization American Petroleum Institute published a report at 2130 GMT on Tuesday. The U.S. Department of Energy’s statistics department EIA will release its report at 1530 GMT on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, analysts and company sources said that Russia is unlikely to reach its May target for pre-pandemic oil production due to a lack of spare capacity.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who is responsible for the relationship between Moscow and OPEC+ Petroleum Producing Countries Group, said that by May, the production of oil and gas condensate is likely to reach pre-pandemic levels, which is about 11.33 million barrels per day (BPD). . Seen in April 2020.

Investors are waiting for the OPEC+ meeting on January 4. On January 4, the alliance will continue planning to increase production by 400,000 barrels per day in February.

Despite Omicron, OPEC+ insisted on increasing production in January at the last meeting.

On Tuesday, Iran’s Ministry of Petroleum said that the development of Azadegan, Iran’s largest oil field, will be completed in mid-2023, with a total output of 320,000 barrels per day (BPD).