Oil price strengthens after unilateral cut in Saudi production

At the end of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), WTI futures contracts for February delivery totaled 70 cents from the previous day.

Benchmark crude in the US added another solid rise after Tuesday’s sharp rise, rising $ 2.31 to top $ 50 for the first time since February, but easing slightly afterward.

US crude inventories fell more than 8 million barrels in the week of January 1 to 485.8 million barrels, a decline that was four times the experts’ estimates, even though an inventory drop is normal. at the end of the year, when the energy companies remove the barrels from storage to avoid a significant tax payment.

Added to this decrease in inventories is the announcement on Tuesday by Saudi Arabia, which pledged to reduce its crude supply by one million barrels per day (mbd) in February and March, when it will pump 8.25 mbd, as announced the country’s Energy Minister, Abdelaziz bin Salmán.

For their part, Kazakhstan and Russia agreed to gradually increase oil production by a total of 75,000 barrels a day, the Kazakh Ministry of Energy reported.

Meanwhile, gasoline contracts due in February rose 2 cents to $ 1.47 per gallon, and natural gas contracts for same-month delivery rose 1 cent to $ 2.71 per thousand cubic feet.

On the other hand, the price of a barrel of Brent for delivery in March closed this Wednesday with an advance of 1.3% in the London futures market, up to 54.30 dollars.

North Sea oil, a benchmark in Europe, ended the session on the Intercontinental Exchange with an increase of $ 0.70 compared to the close of the previous session.

G. Febres

With information from EFE, other agencies and international media specialized in the economy and markets