(London) Oil prices rose slightly on Thursday, driven by opportunity purchases after the significant drop in prices following the OPEC meeting on Sunday and its decision to reintroduce part of its production cut from October.
Around 7:30 a.m. (Eastern time), the price of a barrel of North Sea Brent, for delivery in August, rose 0.70% to $78.96.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), for delivery in July, gained 0.81% to $74.67.
The prices of the two global crude oil benchmarks are rising slightly, thanks to “a technical rebound, but remain close to their lowest level in four months,” comments John Plassard, analyst at Mirabaud.
Also for DNB analysts, prices are recovering “after the OPEC-induced sell-off at the start of the week”, with investors taking advantage of lower prices.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies in the OPEC alliance announced on Sunday an extension of current production cuts until the end of September, before partially and gradually lifting them over the following 12 months . This will result in an increase in supply from October.
In total, around 2.5 million barrels per day (mb/d) could be gradually reintroduced starting in the fall if he sticks to his plan.
“OPEC’s ambition” to reintroduce as many barrels until September 2025 “is clearly a warning to non-OPEC producers to take their foot off the gas”, if they do not want to see the prices sink, say DNB analysts.
The United States is currently the world’s largest oil producer.