Around 11:10 a.m., Brent took 1.10% to 113.16 dollars. The American WTI climbed 1.47% to 114.05 dollars.
Oil prices were up on Wednesday, driven by the risk of a disruption in the supply of Russian hydrocarbons and good macroeconomic indices from the United States, the leading consumer country of crude.
Around 09:10 GMT (11:10 CET), a barrel of Brent from the North Sea for delivery in July took 1.10% to 113.16 dollars.
A barrel of US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in June rose 1.47% to 114.05 dollars.
“Oil prices are moving modestly higher this morning after WTI passed Brent for the first time since 2020,” said Victoria Scholar, analyst for Interactive Investor.
“As the global economy seeks to reduce its reliance on Russian oil, alternative sources have been called upon with declining US crude reserves, pushing WTI prices above the global benchmark,” he said. she.
“Despite the pessimism and predictions of recession, retail sales, manufacturing production and industrial production in the United States all posted excellent numbers last night”, also participating in the support for oil prices by reassuring on the demand in the country’s largest consumer of black gold, estimates Jeffrey Halley of Oanda.
Fears about disruptions in the supply of crude from Russia are still present. Russia will have to reorganize its energy sector after the European sanctions, Vladimir Putin ruled on Tuesday, but he estimated that the EU would be the first to suffer from its “economic burning” by renouncing Russian hydrocarbons.
Finland and Sweden submitted their applications for NATO membership on Wednesday, as consultations are underway between the Allies to lift Turkey’s opposition to the integration of the two Nordic countries into the Alliance.
“Russia had already warned about the unspecified consequences of Sweden and Finland joining NATO,” recalls Susannah Streeter, analyst for Hargreaves Lansdown.
“Now that these two countries have applied to join the alliance, markets will be alert to further provocations from Russia, including the risk that energy will become even more of a weapon,” he said. she.
At the same time, the oil market will probably be influenced by the US Energy Information Agency’s (EIA) weekly report on US oil inventories.
The American Petroleum Institute (API), the federation that brings together professionals in the oil sector in the country, reported on Tuesday a drop in commercial crude reserves of 2.4 million barrels last week.
A larger drop than that estimated by the market, of the order of 2 million barrels, according to the median of analysts polled by the Bloomberg agency.