Oil prices rose 3% after the decision of the United States and other countries to open strategic reserves

Yesterday, US President Biden said that the country will sell 50 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves as part of agreements with the authorities of Great Britain, Japan, South Korea, India and China to increase oil supplies from reserves in order to reduce prices for it. However, the market reacted to this statement with an increase in quotations by 2.5% after a long fall from October highs of 8-10%.

January Brent crude futures on the ICE Futures Europe exchange rose 2.8% to 8 82.2/barrel, and WT crude on the New York NYMEX exchange-2.2% to.78.5/barrel, having won back Friday's fall in two days.

The United States, together with its partners, is trying to increase pressure on OPEC+ countries, which refuse to significantly increase the level of oil production, despite months of persuasion. In a statement, the White House said that it is necessary to reduce oil prices due to a sharp rise in the price of fuel for American consumers. At the same time, the laws of many countries allow opening reserves only in the event of war or disaster, so, for example, the Japanese government is now looking for ways to circumvent such a ban.

Strengthening quarantines in Europe and South Korea due to an increase in cases of coronavirus will reduce demand for it, which will help reduce quotations. In South Korea, after a long period of improvement, the number of COVID-19 cases has again reached a record 4,116 cases.

Today, the US Department of Energy will release a report on commercial reserves of oil and petroleum products in the country for the period November 13-19. If stocks decline, as analysts predict, then oil prices will receive additional support.