On Thursday, the price of Brent remains stable near the level of $90 per barrel after yesterday's impressive rise to seven-year highs. The current quote of «black gold» is $89.43. WTI grade oil is trading at $88.14 per barrel. The main support for prices today is provided by the increase in tension on the border between Russia and Ukraine, as well as data on the reduction of fuel reserves at the American terminal in Cushing – where the volume of reserves fell by 1.8 million barrels last week and reached a minimum for this time of year over the past ten years. At the same time, fresh statistics from the US Department of Energy showed an increase in crude oil reserves in the US by 2.38 million barrels. Experts expected reserves to grow by only 1 million barrels. However, even these data failed to put pressure on oil quotes. Analysts fear that the escalation of the conflict on the border of Ukraine may lead to risks of supply disruptions. Concerns about this political crisis even outweighed signals that the US Federal Reserve would tighten monetary policy, which provided significant support to the dollar. Among other things, another significant event for the hydrocarbon market is approaching. On February 2, an OPEC+ meeting will be held, at which OPEC and partners will discuss the issue of another increase in production. At the moment, the organization is gradually easing production cuts as demand recovers.
