The Globe News
The price of Texas Intermediate Oil (WTI) opened this Friday with a decrease of 1.11%, to 59.85 dollars a barrel, despite another unexpected weekly drop in national crude inventories.
At 09:05 local time, WTI futures contracts for March delivery were down $0.67 from yesterday's close.
The Energy Information Administration last night reported a drop of 7.3 million barrels in the week ended February 12, before the cold snap in the southern United States, well above what analysts estimated.
But despite the fact that inventories are at their lowest level since March of last year, at 461.8 million barrels, prices fell today due to the effect of the winter storm that has caused severe shutdowns in the energy sector in Texas.
Frigid temperatures in America's top-producing state have caused blackouts and reduced oil supply by some four million barrels a day, experts estimate.
However, companies in the region are beginning this Friday to prepare for the restoration of production as electrical and public services return to normal.
Another bearish factor is the formal offer that the Biden government made to Iran to restart the diplomatic relationship, although there is a "long" way for Washington to lift its sanctions, which isolate 1.7 million barrels per day from the market, according to to Rystad Energy. External source
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