US winter storm disrupts oil production

A heavy winter blast in the US threatens oil output, causing worries for supply disruptions.
Photo: Jacob Ehrbahn
Photo: Jacob Ehrbahn
BY MARKETWIRE, TRANSLATED BY CHRISTOFFER ØSTERGAARD

Oil prices continue to climb, with supply being unable to keep up with demand at a time when a heavy winter storm in the US threatens to disrupt oil output, writes Reuters.

A barrel of European reference crude Brent costs USD 91.39 Friday morning against USD 89.62 Thursday afternoon. A barrel of US benchmark crude West Texas Intermediate trades concurrently for USD 90.77 against 88.60 Thursday afternoon.

"WTI crude surged over the USD 90 level after an Arctic blast made its way to Texas and disrupted some oil production in the Permian Basin," says senior market analyst at OANDA Edward Moya to Reuters.

On top of this, geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe continue to put pressure on oil supply, fueling the surge in oil prices. In the current year, the price of Brent has gone up by 17 percent, while the price of WTI has gone up by 20 percent.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its OPEC+ allies agreed to stick to the plan of moderate and gradual increases of oil output.

"With geopolitical risk in Ukraine and only gradual increase of production by OPEC+, prices are expected to head toward USD100 a barrel," says chief analyst at Sunward Trading Chiyoki Chen.

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