Oil: Losses for the third week in a row with the US considering a move to ‘pick’ prices

Oil prices fell on Friday, ending another week in negative territory – the third consecutive – as traders continued to weigh the possibility of the release of US oil reserves from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve or the ban on oil exports to lower prices of petroleum products.

At a press conference at the White House on Friday, spokeswoman Jen Psaki said all options remained on the table but no decision had been made. “This shows us that the White House is not entirely sure what to do,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Price Futures Group.

“Some say banning US oil exports would only reduce US production and put domestic oil producers out of the game, which would have a limited impact on the price of gasoline, while the release of stocks would only have a short-term effect.” he stressed.

The release of stocks “will only serve to increase demand,” Flynn said, adding: “It will artificially lower prices in a market where demand is insatiable and supply is insufficient,” Flynn said.

“Most investors agree that releasing stocks from the SPR or banning exports would allow Biden to look more … President, but the impact on the market will be rather negligible,” Michael Tran said in a note. analyst at RBC Capital Markets.

Pressure on oil prices this week and US dollar, which strengthened by 0.9%, although on Friday it recorded small losses of 0.1%.

In this climate, the West Texas Intermediate crude December delivery fell 80 cents, or 1%, to settle at $ 80.79 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On a weekly basis, US crude lost 0.6% in the third consecutive 5-day loss, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

At corresponding rhythms moved the Brent oil January delivery fell 70 cents, or 0.8%, to $ 82.17 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe, losing 0.7% on the week.

“Dive” 7% was recorded on Friday December delivery gas at $ 4,791 per 1 million British thermal units. On a weekly basis, natural gas fell more than 13%.