The prices of Petroleum They went down again this Friday after the group’s decision OPEC+ to maintain its production policy unchanged, so that the reference prices ended with weekly losses due to fears about the growth of Chinese demand.
Meanwhile, the futures of Brent crude oil fell 1.74% to $77.33 a barrel, while a barrel of Brent had approached $85 in Monday trading, while US crude North Sea, reference in Europe, concluded the day in International Exchange Futures with a drop of 1.37 dollars compared to yesterday’s close, when it ended at 78.70 dollars.
Crude oil price fell after no signs of an imminent interest rate cut in USA, something that could decrease demand, to which is added a slight easing in Middle East tension after the terrorist organization Hamas showed signs of accepting the proposal to release hostages in exchange for a truce in the Israeli offensive in Loop.
In recent weeks, the price of North Sea crude oil had reached over 80 dollars a barrel due to the crisis of middle East and the attacks by the Houthi rebels of the Yemen, backed by Iran, against merchant ships in the Red Sea.
The role of OPEC+ and the Fed’s decision
Two sources of OPEC+ They stated this Thursday that the group has kept its production policy and will decide in March whether to extend voluntary oil production cuts in effect during the first quarter.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies led by Russia, known collectively as OPEC+, Production cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day are applied (bpd) for the first quarter, as announced in November.
The decision of the United States Federal Reserve to maintain the benchmark overnight interest rate in the range of 5.25-5.50% and the comments of the Fed president, Jerome Powellsaying that interest rates had peaked and would fall in the coming months.
Lower interest rates would reduce costs of indebtedness of the consumers, which can boost economic growth and demand for oil.
Concerns about the economic recovery persisted yel International Monetary Fund predicted on Friday that the country’s economic growth will slow to 4.6% in 2024 and continue to decline in the medium term to 3.5% in 2028.
Meanwhile, concern over maritime transport continued after a military spokesman for the Houthi group, aligned with Iran, said Thursday that attacks on shipping will persist until “Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip“.
Source: Ambito
