2023-10-18 19:39:01
Oil prices rebounded on Wednesday, awakened by Iran’s call for an oil embargo on Israel and the fall in American crude stocks under the effect of an increase in exports and domestic demand.
The price of a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in December rose 1.77%, to close at $91.50.
Its American equivalent, West Texas Intermediate (WTI), with maturity in November, gained 1.91%, to $88.32.
Both references are at their highest for two weeks.
According to comments reported by the Didban Iran website, the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, called on countries with a predominantly Muslim population to boycott Israel, in particular by suspending their deliveries of black gold to the Jewish state.
“This raises fears that the conflict will spread and disrupt supplies” of oil, said Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates.
Already trending in the green, prices gained a little more speed following the publication of the weekly report from the American Energy Information Agency (EIA).
The document showed a decrease of 4.5 million barrels in crude oil inventories in the United States last week, while analysts expected a drop of only 550,000 barrels.
“The market was boosted by this figure, but also that of refined products, in decline more marked than expected,” explained Andy Lipow.
Gasoline stocks thus fell by 2.4 million barrels, while analysts only expected a slight decline of 100,000 barrels.
This inflection in stocks is explained by the rebound in crude exports (+72% over one week), to the highest level in eight months, but also by a surge in deliveries of refined products to the United States, a figure considered as a barometer of American domestic demand.
The latter increased sharply (+11%), reaching their highest level in 20 months. This indicator has never risen to such a height at this time of year, according to data from the EIA, which has published it since 1990.
“Oil will remain a popular destination on Wall Street, to the extent that the supply and demand situation argues for an increase” in prices, commented Edward Moya of Oanda in a note.
On the demand side, in addition to the United States, the analyst also cited China, where the latest delivery of macroeconomic data showed higher than expected growth in the third quarter.
Retail sales and industrial production also came out in September at a higher level than expected by economists.
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