Oil prices resumed their rise on Wednesday on lingering concerns about the crisis in Ukraine and strong demand, tested by the state of US trade reserves.
The price of a barrel North Sea Brent for April delivery rose 1.64% to $94.81. In New York, the barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March delivery rose 1.72% to $93.66.
For Ipek Ozkardeskaya, an analyst at Swissquote, the crisis in Ukraine has added “an additional pressure to an already bullish context, but only explains part of the gains”.
Despite the announcement of Moscow of the partial withdrawal of its troops from the border, “the market is skeptical of what the Russians are saying,” summed up Andrew Lipow, of Lipow Oil Associates.
Another factor to which the rise is attributed is the state of crude stocks in United Stateswhich was mixed with an unexpected increase in reserves and a drop in gasoline and distillate stocks.
During the week ending February 11, inventories increased by 1.1 million barrels, contrary to analysts’ expectations, according to figures published by the Energy Information Agency (EIA) from the United States.
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