Prices for benchmark oil brands collapsed on Wednesday, reaching multi-month lows: Brent crude fell to $75.30 per barrel, North American WTI crude fell to $70.13. The last time such values were recorded was in early July. The oil market continues to assess the consequences of the voluntary reduction of oil production by OPEC+ countries by 2.2 million barrels per day announced last week (in the first quarter of 2024). Moreover, Saudi Arabia has lowered the selling prices of Arab Light oil for Asia for the first time in seven months, which may affect the market. In January, this grade will cost $3.5 per barrel more than a basket of oil from Oman and Dubai, whereas previously the difference was $4. Investors are also paying attention to changes in oil reserves in the United States. Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed an increase in oil reserves by 594 thousand barrels. Official data from the US Department of Energy on oil reserves, on the contrary, reflected a decrease of 4,632 million barrels.
