Oil quotes show increased trading volatility, fluctuating in the range of $78.30 – $79.75 per barrel. The current price of Brent is $78.50. WTI oil rose to $77.00, subsequently declining to $75.80 per barrel. During the trading on the eve of the oil price reached the highest values since the end of November. And since the beginning of the year, both brands have increased in price by more than 50%, which has not been observed for more than a decade. Yesterday, Brent jumped sharply in price after the release of data from the US Department of Energy on crude oil reserves in the country. According to recent statistics, commercial oil reserves in the United States decreased by 3.58 million barrels last week, while experts expected a reduction of only 2.7 million barrels. Gasoline inventories decreased by 1.46 million barrels, distillate inventories decreased by 1.73 million barrels. Additional support for the oil market is provided by the easing of concerns about the new Covid strain omicron, which turned out to be less dangerous than its predecessors. Thus, the governments of many countries will not introduce new measures to restrict movement. In the new year, on January 4, attention should be paid to the OPEC+ meeting, at which representatives of oil-producing states will discuss plans to increase production by the planned 400 thousand barrels per day in February.
