Oil prices fell 2% under pressure from rising US inventories
The mutual imposition of tariffs between the US and China and fears of a further decline in global demand for energy resources continue to put pressure on oil prices, which have fallen by 7.9% in three weeks.
Yesterday, April Brent crude futures fell 2% to $74.6/barrel (-1.5% month-on-month) amid a larger-than-expected increase in US crude and gasoline inventories.
According to the EIA's weekly report, US crude oil inventories rose by 8.66 million barrels (against expectations of a 1.9 million barrel increase), while gasoline inventories rose by 2.2 million barrels (to a year-long high), against expectations of a 0.2 million barrel increase. At the same time, distillate inventories fell by 5.47 million barrels, against expectations of a 2.07 million barrel decrease.
U.S. crude oil production rose 1.8% to 13.478 million barrels per day in the week of January 25-31, slightly below the record level of 13.631 million barrels per day recorded on December 6.
Additional support for oil prices is provided by expectations of reduced supplies from Iran and the Russian Federation due to increased sanctions pressure. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday issued a directive to resume "maximum economic pressure" on Iran to force it to stop developing nuclear weapons.
The United States also imposed new sanctions against the Russian oil industry, in particular Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegaz, which exported about 970,000 barrels of oil per day out of 3 million barrels of total Russian tanker exports.
The market was supported by the OPEC+ decision, adopted at its monthly meeting on Monday, according to which oil production plans in the first quarter will not change, and from April production will gradually begin to increase.
The market should not expect a sharp drop in oil prices at this time, as Saudi Arabia and other major producers have not yet supported Trump's call to lower world oil prices to increase pressure on Russia to end the war.
