Prices on the crude oil market rose sharply on Thursday. A barrel of Brent crude from the North Sea cost $ 76.74, 2.8 percent more. The US variety WTI rose 3.7 percent to $ 76.22. At the Opec + meeting, Russia and Saudi Arabia seem to be struggling to raise their oil production quotas towards an agreement. According to insiders, Opec + intends to raise production quotas by less than the generally expected 500,000 barrels per day. Analysts had originally expected this amount or more and had warned that larger jumps could weigh on oil prices. Saudi Arabia wants to gradually increase the quantities, while Russia is pushing for a more energetic start. According to stockbrokers, the corona virus variant Delta carries the risk of new lockdowns and, as a result, of a more subdued demand. This could prevent Opec + from expanding its range too much. The targeted increase will keep the supply on the world markets tight in the summer, whereby the demand will continue to rise in the coming weeks, said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. However, the oil market generally has leeway to absorb more crude oil. In the third quarter, it is expected that oil stocks will shrink to a greater extent, which will drive oil prices up. Relaxed travel restrictions, not least due to progressive vaccinations, should lead to an increase in oil demand in the second half of the year. “In the first half of the year, the conditions for further improvement and growth in the economy and oil demand were created,” said Tamas Varga, analyst at the London brokerage PVM Oil.
The euro stopped its recent downtrend and moved in a tight range around its previous day’s rate. In the early evening, the common currency was quoted at $ 1.1855.