MADRID, 6 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The barrel of Brent crude oil, the benchmark in Europe, fell at noon this Friday below $84 – levels from last August – after diluting the strong upward trend in September that caused the raw material to approach $100 per barrel. last week -on the 28th it marked a maximum of 97.7 dollars-.
In that sense, according to market data collected by Europa Press, Brent crude oil has dropped 13% in the last week, while Julius Baer experts have considered that profit-taking in the futures markets has been the driver of this lowering, since market sentiment had risen to “excessively bullish” levels.
Likewise, the entity has pointed out that oil supplies are sufficient and the “much-debated” adjustment trend until now is less pronounced than expected.
Looking ahead, the stagnation of consumption and the increase in production make the tightening scenario “even less likely”, according to Julius Baer, and maintain their cautious view by which they predict that oil prices will fall next anus.
The report released this Friday has detailed that oil storage in North America, Europe and China is “sufficient” and that “no worrying trend” of tightening is observed.
In this context, in the United States the lower levels of crude oil storage are offset by the higher levels of petroleum products.
For their part, the aggressive policy of oil production cuts by OPEC nations is “unjustified” and limits supplies, although the effects are partially offset by the incremental return of exports from Iran, Venezuela and West Africa.
In response to the oil policy of Saudi Arabia and Russia (main OPEC figures who this past Wednesday ratified their commitment to reduce oil supply until the end of the year), the West would be adopting a lax stance regarding sanctions against the “pariah states.” “; Thus, the gap between supply and demand may not be as wide as feared and, going forward, it is very likely to reverse.
Oil consumption should almost stagnate in the future for several reasons: China’s economic challenges and the rapid shift towards electric mobility, Julius Baer’s report has concluded.
On the other hand, the WTI barrel from Texas, the benchmark in the US market, was experiencing a situation analogous to Brent: it was trading this session at $82 – the lowest at the end of August – after having touched $96 a week ago.
The generalized depreciation of oil has in turn translated into stock market declines in companies in the sector, such as, for example, the Spanish company Repsol, which has accumulated a decline of around 9% since the middle of last week.
The Government of Russia announced this Friday the lifting of restrictions imposed on the export of diesel fuel delivered to seaports through pipelines, provided that the manufacturing company has supplied at least 50% of the diesel fuel produced to the domestic market. .
In this way, Russia partially eases the veto imposed a few weeks ago on fuel exports in order to stabilize the internal market, where the shortage of diesel had pushed up costs, causing a rise in prices around the world. .
