Oil’s performance was mixed during the past week, as the black gold prices drew support from the possibility of a decline in Russian exports, but was pressured by the increase in inventories in the United States, and concerns about global economic activity.
JP Morgan bank said in a note, on Friday, that the possibility of falling prices in the short term is greater than the possibility of an increase, and is likely to head towards between 70 and 80 dollars per barrel.
The bank added that it expects the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to reduce its production to limit the decline in prices.
price movements
During the past week, Brent crude prices recorded a slight increase of 0.19 percent, after Friday’s trading ended higher by 95 cents, or 1.2 percent, at settlement, to end trading at $83.16 a barrel.
On the other hand, US West Texas crude prices fell by 3.07 percent in a week, despite rising by 93 cents, or 1.2 percent on Friday, to reach $76.32 a barrel at settlement.
Earlier in the Friday session, both benchmarks lost more than $1 a barrel.
On the day of the first anniversary of the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, Brent crude was down about 15 percent from its level a year ago.
And it had recorded the highest level in 14 years, at about $ 128 a barrel, on March 8, 2022.
The rise of the two crude grades in the last sessions of the week was reinforced by Russia’s announcement to reduce oil exports from its western ports by up to 25 percent during the month of March, which exceeds its announced reduction in production by 500,000 barrels per day.
But market supplies appeared plentiful, with US inventories rising to their highest level since May 2021, data from the US Energy Information Administration showed.