Oil prices continue to rise … Brent exceeds $ 62.34



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Oil prices rose on Friday after falling earlier in the session, but weak market expectations from OPEC and the International Energy Agency held back gains.

Currently trading, Brent rose more than a dollar to $ 62.34 a barrel, after falling to a session low of $ 60.35. US crude rose to $ 59.62 after falling to $ 57.41.

The two decades are making weekly gains.

Prices have increased in recent weeks, in part because of cuts in oil production by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other producers in the so-called OPEC + group.

Oil prices have also bolstered hopes for the distribution of vaccines to prevent the Corona virus, which could stimulate a recovery in demand.

But OPEC said this week that it expects a slower recovery in global oil demand than previously estimated in 2021, reducing its forecast from 110,000 bpd to 5.79 million bpd.

The Energy Agency said the supply of oil still exceeds global demand, but Covid-19 vaccines are expected to support a recovery in demand.

“The (Energy Agency’s) report paints a more pessimistic picture of what market traders have assumed in light of the current high prices,” Commerzbank said.

Both benchmarks closed Wednesday at their highest levels since January 2020 after successive near-record daily gains.

Oil prices have risen in recent weeks as OPEC and other producers in the group known as OPEC + cut production, while Saudi Arabia has pledged to unilaterally cut production which started this month.

“OPEC production is likely to decline this month, due to declines in Saudi Arabia and Libya. This will worsen the global market deficit and support prices,” Capital Economics said.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said world oil demand in 2021 will recover at a much slower pace than previously thought.

According to the US Energy Information Administration, crude oil inventories in the United States unexpectedly fell last week, dropping more than 6 million barrels as refineries ramped up production to pre-pandemic levels.

Analysts in a Reuters poll were expecting an increase of around one million barrels.

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