Oil prices rose as the market looked ahead to a meeting of OPEC+, a Federal Reserve rate decision, and U.S. government data on crude oil and fuel stockpiles.
Brent crude rose 45 cents, or 0.52%, to $85.92 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 62.34 cents, or 0.83%, at $79.44 a barrel.
The dollar index fell because people expected the U.S. to be less aggressive with interest rates. This made oil cheaper for people who had other currencies.
Meanwhile, ministers and allies of OPEC+ should stick to existing output targets at a virtual meeting scheduled for Wednesday.
In January, 10 out of 12 OPEC countries cut oil production by over 920,000 barrels per day below the deal’s target. This is over half of the total reduction in oil production since the deal was agreed to. The shortfall was larger than 780,000 barrels per day in December.
The American Petroleum Institute showed that U.S. crude inventories rose by about 6.32 mill barrels more than expected in the week ended Jan.
Russian gas to Europe
Gas supplies from Russia to Europe via Ukraine rose for the first time in weeks as price spreads became more favorable to stimulate flows.
Russia’s Gazprom said it would send 29.43 mcm of gas to the EU via Ukraine via the Suja entry point, up from 24.53 mcm on Tuesday. However, flows are still about 27.5% below levels at last year’s winter gas season.
Since then, the transit line in Ukraine has remained the only remaining route for the flow of Russian gas to Central and Western Europe.
Russian deliveries via this route decreased in January compared to the previous month. Analysts attributed this to importers getting less gas from remaining long-term Russian gas contracts as mild temperatures and healthy supplies in Europe pushed prices down to pre-war levels in Ukraine.
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