The oil market is strengthening on Thursday, showing an increase in Brent quotes to $75.75 per barrel. The price of WTI crude oil rose to the level of $73.58. Prices for both benchmarks peaked since October 2018 a day earlier, on Wednesday (Brent – $75.90, WTI – $74.20 per barrel). Prices were supported by yesterday's report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the US Department of Energy, according to which crude oil reserves in the country fell significantly – by 7.6 million barrels (to 459.1 million barrels). Analysts predicted a smaller reduction – by 3.9 million. Gasoline inventories fell by 2.9 million barrels per week, while analysts had expected an increase of 833 thousand barrels. This decline has fueled optimism about a fast recovery in fuel demand in the near term. Additional support for hydrocarbon prices is provided by the progress in the situation around the Iranian agreement. It became known yesterday that the United States agreed to lift all sanctions on Iranian oil and shipping. However, negotiations between Washington and Tehran to re-establish the nuclear deal are still ongoing.
