2024-04-03 13:00:02
Oil prices continued their gains, on Wednesday, in light of concerns regarding supplies in the wake of Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries and the possibility of expanding the scope of the war in the Middle East, while the meeting of senior ministers of the OPEC+ coalition kept the oil production policy at the current cuts unchanged.
Price movements
Brent crude futures for June delivery rose by 75 cents, or 0.84 percent, to $89.67 a barrel by 11:30 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures for May delivery rose 73 cents, or 0.86 percent, to $85.88 a barrel. .
The OPEC+ alliance, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, on Wednesday left the oil production policy unchanged, following its decision last month to extend the current production cuts until June.
Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose 1.7 percent in the previous session to their highest levels since October.
Prices jumped yesterday, Tuesday, following a Ukrainian drone attack on another Russian refinery threatened to disrupt more of the country’s refining capabilities.
Investors are also concerned regarding the expansion of the conflict in the Middle East following Iran vowed to take revenge on Israel for the attack that occurred on Monday, which led to the killing of senior military personnel.
The expansion of the conflict in the Middle East to include more oil-producing countries might cause supply disruptions.
Iran is the third largest producer in OPEC.
On the other hand, the strongest earthquake that Taiwan has witnessed in at least 25 years caused Formosa Petrochemicals to suspend operations at its refinery, but work was resumed at a later time.
The US Energy Information Administration is scheduled to release oil inventory data later on Wednesday.
Traders said yesterday that American Petroleum Institute data showed a decline in crude inventories by 2.3 million barrels last week.
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