Oil Prices Sustain Bullish Run for Fourth Consecutive Session

Global oil prices appreciated for a fourth consecutive session after it became clear OPEC and allies can not meet their production targets any time soon.

Brent crude oil, against which Nigerian oil is priced, appreciated to $120 a barrel as of 3:20 pm Nigerian time on Wednesday. Representing an increase of $12 from $108 a barrel traded a week ago.

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose to $112.37 per barrel, up from $99.33 per barrel a week ago.

The increase in prices was a result of sanctions imposed on about 1/5 of global supply by western nations. Russia, one of the world’s largest crude oil producers, was sanctioned for waging war against Ukraine, and eventually, disrupting the global economy.

“Given that almost 1/5 of global oil producing capacity today is under some form of sanctions (Iran, Venezuela, Russia), we believed there is no practical way to keep these barrels out of a market that was already exceptionally tight,” JP Morgan said in a research note.

This concern over global supply outweighed worries about a weaker global economy ahead of the projected economic recession in developed nations, especially with developed economies raising interest rates to curb escalating inflation numbers.

“Investors made position adjustments, but remained bullish on expectations that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates would not be able to raise output significantly to meet recovering demand, driven by a pick-up in jet fuels,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research at Nissan Securities.