Oil prices pared gains on Thursday, as buyers continued to avoid Russian oil after its invasion of Ukraine.
The decline in gains also came after OPEC + announced yesterday that it would continue to operate with the same production policy despite the sharp increase in prices.
OPEC + decided in its meeting yesterday, to stabilize the oil production policy during the month of April, which is related to an increase in production by about 400,000 barrels per day, stressing that the oil market is witnessing a well-balanced state. .
This coincided with the US Energy Information Administration's announcement yesterday, a sudden drop in oil stocks in the United States, in addition to a decline in gasoline and distillate stocks for the week ending February 25, 2022.
Although the United States and its allies have refrained from imposing sanctions on crude oil exports from Russia due to concerns about the repercussions of this step on energy prices and consumers, prices are ignoring this, US crude rose to its highest level since 2011.
At the same time, Rystad Energy has warned that global oil demand could fall by as much as 1 million barrels per day due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In terms of today's trading, Brent crude futures for May delivery rose by 3.39% to reach $116.76 a barrel, after recording $118.22 earlier in trading.
The US NYMEX crude contracts for April delivery also rose by 3.31% at the level of $114.26 a barrel.
