Oil prices on international markets rose above $79, boosted by reduced supply due to the suspension of some exports from Iraqi Kurdistan and optimism among investors after turmoil in the banking sector subsided.
In the morning trading, however, oil prices experienced a fall. Brent oil is currently $78.26, while a barrel of WTI oil is trading at $73.02, according to data published on the OilPrice website.
The government in Baghdad boosted markets this week by approving the export of 450,000 barrels of oil per day from Iraqi Kurdistan following an arbitration ruling.
On Wednesday, the Norwegian oil company DNO announced that it has started to shut down production at fields in Kurdistan. The Tawke and Peshkabir oil fields produced an average of 107,000 barrels per day last year, equivalent to a quarter of Kurdish exports.
According to Fiona Cincotta of City Index, supply concerns will boost oil prices until the resolution of the dispute.
Rising prices fueled last week’s decline in crude oil inventories in the United States, as much as 6.1 million barrels, according to market sources citing data from the American Petroleum Institute (API).
Investors’ attention is on official inventory data, as investors want to know if the information from the report published by API will be confirmed.
OPEC declared on Tuesday that the cost of one barrel of crude oil from its members had increased to $77.63.
Oil prices have been the lowest in the last 15 months
Oil prices fell on Monday as stress in the banking industry spilled over into the market on fears of a slowing economy and falling demand for energy. The price of benchmark Brent crude has lost 15 per cent of its value this month and is trading at its lowest price since December 2021.
U.S. WTI crude oil futures fell more than 1.7 per cent to below $66 a barrel on Monday. Brent oil lost about 1.4 per cent of its value until early afternoon, when it was trading at about $72 per barrel, although its morning price was lower than $71 per barrel, according to data from the specialized OilPrice portal.
