Oil prices rose today, Tuesday, supported by a decline in inventories, although optimism was limited by concerns about demand after the increase in Covid-19 injuries in Europe.
Brent crude contracts, the global standard, rose 0.74% to $ 82.66 a barrel, at 04:21 GMT. And US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude contracts increased by 0.67 percent, to $81.42.
“We have very low levels of inventories, and if the winter comes in very cold and the OPEC slowdown continues to increase supply, this could raise oil prices,” said Tony Noonan, senior risk manager at Mitsubishi Corp.
However, fears of a collapse in demand due to the Covid-19 pandemic affected prices as well.
Europe has again become the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic, prompting some governments to consider reimposing a general closure, while China is battling the largest outbreak of the “delta” strain of the emerging coronavirus.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) last week lowered its forecast for global oil demand for the fourth quarter by 330,000 barrels per day from its estimates last month, while high energy prices impede the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Fears of a drop in demand came amid expectations of an increase in supply.
Last week, US energy companies added oil and natural gas rigs for the third week in a row, encouraged by a 65 percent increase in US crude prices since the beginning of the year.
US shale oil production is expected to reach pre-pandemic levels of 8.68 million barrels per day in December 2021, according to Rystad Energy.