Oil prices remained green on Thursday during the last session of 2020, after a turbulent year that saw a fall in prices due to the covid-19 pandemic.
The North Sea Brent barrel for delivery in March, on its first day as a benchmark contract, advanced 0.33% or 17 cents, to $ 51.80.
The US WTI barrel for February rose 0.24% or 12 cents to $ 48.52.
The market will be closed on Friday, the first day of the year and closed in many parts of the world.
In the week, shortened by the New Year holidays, the price of black gold rose slightly, taking advantage especially on Wednesday of the weekly report on oil reserves in the United States.
“The big surprise is such a high level of US exports, it is proof that demand remains at a solid level despite the refinements,” said Stephen Innes, an analyst at Axi.
On a sharp rise since the first announcements of covid-19 vaccines, Brent and WTI were up 8% and 6.5% respectively in December.
But this exercise is far from erasing the fall caused by the pandemic, which plunged fuel and energy consumption.
In 2020, the price of Brent lost 22% and that of WTI, 21%.
“The players in the markets are not prepared to forget a year they would like to forget: the year in which oil prices fell below zero. This shows that with raw materials, you never have to say never,” he said. summarize Phil Flynn of Price Futures Group.
Analysts look to 2021, where the short-term demand outlook should remain bleak, even when consumption may perhaps resume with vaccination campaigns.
“Prices started to continue to rise, as long as unpleasant surprises are avoided,” warned Jeffrey Halley, an analyst at Oanda.
Even more optimistic, Phil Flynn states that “with the likely return of demand, the market will be insufficiently supplied by the end of 2021.”
“The more difficult regulatory environment with a new Biden administration in the United States will also hinder the resumption of U.S. oil production,” he said, adding that demand will straighten out before production. This suggests higher prices in 2021 and beyond.
The oil year will begin on Monday with the monthly meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its partners, including Russia.
In early December, member countries decided to increase their production, which they voluntarily limit, by 500,000 barrels per day, to avoid flooding the market with the two million barrels per day initially planned.