Crude oil prices closed higher on Wednesday (Feb. 2) following the OPEC+ meeting and declining EIA crude oil inventory data.
- WTI crude futures were up $1.07, or 1.21%, to $89.27 a barrel.
- Brent crude futures were up more than 1% from $90 a barrel.
OPEC+ members have decided to continue the original agreement that OPEC+ will continue to increase oil production by 400,000 barrels per day in March. Pressure came from the U.S. and its partners to increase oil production in order to depress oil prices, which have reached their highest level in 7 years.
Back in July 2021, OPEC+ had decided to increase oil production by 400,000 barrels per day until April 2022.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan predict that oil prices will reach $100/barrel this year amid the threat of oil shortages and strong market demand.
According to the EIA, U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 1 million barrels last week, which is in line with yesterday’s data from the American Petroleum Institute (API) showing that U.S. crude oil inventories fell by 1.6 million barrels last week. Crude oil inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, the delivery point for U.S. crude futures, fell by 1.2 million barrels, gasoline inventories rose by 2.1 million barrels, and distillate inventories, including heating oil and diesel, fell by 2.4 million barrels.
The Spot Market is Open
Thursday, February 3, 2022
| Energy Updated at | USD Price | Change | %Change |
| Crude Oil 09.00 | 87.63 | -0.63 | -0.71% |