(New York) Oil prices rebounded on Wednesday after several sessions of decline, reacting to information on the situation in the Middle East and after the publication of American crude stocks.
A barrel of North Sea Brent for December delivery gained 2.33% to $90.13.
Its American equivalent, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery the same month, advanced 1.97% to $85.39.
The market initially reacted lower to the news that weekly U.S. crude inventories had increased slightly instead of falling as analysts had predicted.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that crude reserves, which had fallen sharply the previous week, partially recovered during the week ended October 20, increasing by 1.4 million barrels at 421.1 million.
Analysts were expecting a drop of 450,000 barrels for crude oil.
“This slight increase in crude reserves reflects a slower pace of refinery activity returning from maintenance. That was to be expected,” said John Kilduff, analyst for Again Capital.
Prices then took an upward slope.
“There were comments from US President Joe Biden regarding actions carried out by Israeli settlers towards the Palestinians,” the analyst recalled. “He said they shouldn’t do that.”
In Washington, at a news conference, Biden called for attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank to “stop now.”
Fears that the war between Israel and Hamas will spread to neighboring countries, however, continue to ease in view of “a concerted diplomatic effort,” comments John Evans, analyst at PVM Energy.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a warning to Iran on Tuesday, saying the United States would act “decisively” in the face of any attack.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that launching a “massive” ground offensive in the Gaza Strip would be “a mistake.”
The Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, for his part, called on Tuesday for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in the Palestinian territory, bombarded continuously since the attack launched on October 7 against Israel by the Islamist movement .
“Although contained for the moment, the conflict puts the oil market on edge, to watch if there is a risk of spilling over into a broader conflict,” explained John Kilduff of Again Capital.
“The slightest news headline, the slightest development that has the potential to worsen the situation causes the market to react,” he added.
“The crucial point” remains “that there has been no interruption in the supply of oil to the Middle East,” underlines Stephen Innes, analyst at SPI AM.
