The price of Texas intermediate oil (WTI) rose 1.8% this Friday and closed at $75.67 a barrel, confirming the momentum with which it began the week in which it has appreciated more than 9%, thanks to the fading concerns about the banking sector and a possible recession.
At the close of business in New York, a barrel of WTI for May delivery was up $1.30 compared to yesterday.
“Oil prices continue to recover gradually, although they remain far from the levels prior to the mini-banking crisis,” analyst Craig said today. Erlamfrom the firm Oanda, in reference to the storm that hit the banking sector at the beginning of the month and which swept away two banks, the Silicon Valley Bank, of California, and the Signature Bank, of New York.
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However, far from the optimism reflected in the weekly rise in the price of a barrel, Erlam warns that “the prolonged economic scar of the last month will probably slow down the economy, or may even cause a recession, and expectations of lower interest rates they are not enough to support oil prices in the short term.”
Beyond the boost given by the price of oil after the clouds threatening the banking sector dissipated, this week the blockade of 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day in Iraqi Kurdistan, due to political disputes between Turkey, Iraq and the Kurdish autonomous region.
Investors were also optimistic about the latest data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on crude oil inventories in the United States last week, which fell by 7.5 million barrels. , compared to the rise of 92,000 that analysts expected.
On the other hand, natural gas futures contracts for May added $0.11 to $2.21, and gasoline futures due the same month gained $0.04 to $2.68.
