Oil prices retreated on Friday as the market took a break following the release of a mixed report on US jobs, although tensions over the supply of black gold remain.
A barrel of North Sea Brent for March delivery, the most traded contract in London, fell 0.29% to close at $ 81.75.
In New York, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in February dropped 0.70% to end at 78.90 dollars.
The operators were waiting for the monthly report on American employment which turned out to be contrasted, between a figure of job creation below expectations by more than half and an unemployment rate in sharp decline.
Beyond this report, explained Phil Flynn, of the broker Price Futures Group, the financial markets were interested in the state of the American economy and in the reading of it the American Central Bank (Fed), resolutely. engaged in the normalization of its monetary policy.
Bad numbers would have been likely to support oil prices, according to Phil Flynn, because they might have prompted the Fed to be more restrained in its current tightening.
But as the “signals were mixed,” traders “decided to pull some money” from the market, “before the weekend,” the analyst said.
The fact that the oil has chained four sessions of rise in a row to start the year 2022 also prompted them to take a break.
“If you look at the whole week, it’s still impressive,” said Phil Flynn.
Some operators also mentioned the absence of a major new development in Kazakhstan on Friday, following several days of clashes between demonstrators and the police, supported by Russian troops, which resulted in the death of dozens of people.
The Central Asian country produces an estimated 1.6 to 1.8 million barrels per day.
Overall, supply remains constrained, weighed down by lower than expected production from several countries party to the Opep + agreement, as well as by the very slow restart of American production.
The specialist firm Baker Hughes said on Friday that the number of oil wells had increased by only one unit compared to the previous week. The total remains regarding 30% below its pre-coronavirus pandemic level.
Insufficient supply, low stocks and a lack of investment should push prices even higher, said Martijn Rats, analyst at Morgan Stanley, who sees Brent hit $ 90 in the third quarter.
