The oil prices They closed a volatile day slightly higher on Wednesday, in reaction to the announcement of the suspension of Russian gas deliveries to Bulgaria and Poland and the publication of US crude oil reserves.
the barrel of North Sea Brent for June delivery gained a modest 0.31% to $105.32 in London.
Meanwhile in New York the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for the same delivery gained 0.31%, settling at 102.02 dollars a barrel.
Crude oil swung between gains and losses after Russia cut off the flow of natural gas to Poland and Bulgaria, exacerbating Europe’s already deep energy crisis,” said Bart Melek of TD Securities.
the russian group Gazprom announced on Wednesday that it suspended its gas shipments to those two countries, because these members of the European Union did not make -according to Moscow- payments in rubles.
“This action puts further upward pressure on oil and gas prices,” summed up Susannah Streeter, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Russian imports ensure Europe 40% of its natural gas needs and 30% of oil.
The crude oil prices changed their trend at mid-day when the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, assured that Bulgaria Y Poland they would be supplied “by their EU neighbours”, which calmed the market.
The European Union “prepared” for this scenario of interruption of Russian gas and is preparing “a coordinated response”, explained Mme von der Leyen.
Investors also received the report of commercial oil reserves in the United States, which increased slightly in the week ending April 22, while gasoline inventories fell.
US crude oil stocks stood at 414.4 million barrels (mb), according to figures released on Wednesday by the US Energy Information Agency (EIA).
Analysts had expected them to remain stable.
The gasoline reservesmeanwhile, fell by 1.6 mb, when operators expected a slightly higher figure.
This report pushed prices up.
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