Brent fell to $63.09 per barrel

Oil prices changed slightly and multi-directionally at trading on Friday amid mixed signals for the market, Interfax reports.

Rising COVID-19 incidence and new lockdowns are weighing on prices as oil inventories decline, said Daniel Hines, chief commodities analyst at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group.

The cost of June futures for Brent oil on the London ICE Futures exchange by 8:25 a.m. Kyiv time on Friday is $63.09 per barrel, which is $0.11 (0.17%) below the price at the close of the previous session. As a result of trading on Thursday, these contracts rose by $0.04 (0.1%) to $63.2 per barrel.

The price of May futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) by this time is $59.62 per barrel, which is $0.02 (0.03%) higher than the level at the close of the previous session. On Thursday, the value of these contracts dropped by $0.17 (0.3%) to $59.6 per barrel.

Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday that he believes the latest OPEC+ decision to increase production is correct.

Earlier this month, OPEC+ agreed to increase oil production in May by 350 thousand barrels per day (bpd), by the same amount in June, and by another 440 thousand bpd in July. In general, for May-July, OPEC+ plans to reach production levels that have been planned since January, and Saudi Arabia will return to the market 1 million bpd of its oil, the production of which is voluntarily limited.

“This is a good decision,” Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Thursday. “Now nothing worries either us or our OPEC+ colleagues. However, if the market situation deteriorates, we can always turn back.”

According to him, the agreement includes a mechanism that will allow "to increase, freeze and reduce production."

Tags: oil, oil production, coronavirus, OPEC+, petroleum products, quarantine, Saudi Arabia, oil market

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