Oil: a review of the market situation

Brent prices fell today, while reaching the minimum value over the past 5.5 years, as concerns about excess supply outweighed fears caused by the suspension of oil production in Libya, which produces 128,000 barrels per day. Prices for WTI, meanwhile, fell below $ 54 a barrel.

Falling prices also associated with the information on the opening of new oil fields in the United States. Market participants expect additional revenues of oil from these fields, as well as the Gulf of Mexico. Experts believe that the oil supply in 2015 will exceed the demand for it, as with OPEC no signs of decreasing production volumes. In the short term solve the problem fail, analysts say. While Saudi Arabia and other leading OPEC members do not take action to reduce the quotas, the situation in the commodities market will remain difficult. Earlier, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called the drop in oil prices by the war, which the United States waged against Russia and his country, trying to bring them to the economic collapse.

The fall in prices is constrained by the expectations of the publication of data on oil reserves in the United States. The American Petroleum Institute will publish data tonight and the US Energy Information Administration - on Wednesday. Investors fear the conservation of commercial oil reserves in the United States at a high level, which could lead to a glut of oil market. Analysts expect the US Department of Energy reported a decrease in stocks of 867 thousand barrels. The volume of oil reserves for the week ending December 19 increased by 7.3 million barrels - up to 387.2 million barrels. "At the moment there is nowhere more obvious signs of growth saturation than in the United States," - said an analyst at JBC Energy GmbH David Uech. He predicts the decrease in production refinery in the first quarter of 2015 around the world that emphasize the more imminent easing of world oil balance.

The cost of the February futures on US light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) dropped to 53.69 dollars per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

February futures price for North Sea Brent crude oil mix fell $ 0.56 to $ 57.42 a barrel on the London Stock Exchange ICE Futures Europe.