Oil remains in the green, helped by the approach of the weekend

Closing price: Oil prices continued with a second positive session on Friday, boosted by the approach of the weekend, which is prompting operators to hedge against potential major geopolitical developments in the Middle East.

The price of a barrel of Brent BRENT Brent, or North Sea crude, is a variant of crude oil that serves as a benchmark in Europe and is listed on the InterContinentalExchange (ICE), an exchange that specializes in energy trading. It became the first international standard for determining oil prices. from the North Sea for delivery in June 0.55%to close $89.50.

The barrel West Texas Intermediate (WTI WTI West Texas Intermediate (WTI), also called Texas Light Sweet, is a variant of crude oil that serves as a standard in determining the price of crude oil and as a commodity for oil futures contracts with the Nymex (New York Mercantile Exchange). , the stock exchange specialized in energy.) American with the same maturity took him 0.33%has $83.85.

For José Torres, from Interactive Brokers, “Tensions in the Middle East have risen slightly” in recent hours, which has supported black gold.

Rockets were fired into Israel from southern Lebanon overnight from Thursday to Friday, while Israeli military aircraft struck targets of the Lebanese pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement.

In addition, the United States said on Friday it had shot down two drones in Houthi rebel-controlled areas of Yemen that launched an anti-ship ballistic missile into the Gulf of Aden without causing damage.

“People are always worried about what might happen on the weekend“on the geopolitical front and are quite on the rise,” according to Andy Lipow of Lipow Oil Associates.because the news, if any, is generally bad and likely to drive up prices.“

However, Brent BRENT Brent, or North Sea crude, is a variant of crude oil that serves as a benchmark in Europe and is listed on the InterContinentalExchange (ICE), an exchange that specializes in energy trading. It became the first international standard for determining oil prices. encountered the symbolic threshold of $90above which it has not been listed for a week before falling back slightly.

“The market remains limited within certain limits“fairly tight”,limited by weaker than expected and limited demand“, in decay,”due to concerns about a possible disruption of supplies in the Middle East“explains Andy Lipow.

“The oil market is currently reasonably balanced“between supply and demand,” the CEO of the American oil company Chevron, Mike Wirth, said on Friday during a conference call to present the group’s results.

“Global economic growth remains good and while demand is not growing as strongly as last year, it continues to rise.“, he added.

Crude oil was also supported on Friday by the announcement of a further decline in the number of wells currently operating in the United States. It is lower than 14% in the park around the same time last year, according to figures published by oil services group Baker Hughes.