Around 11:50 a.m., Brent was worth $ 21.08 in London, down 1.17% from Thursday. In New York, the WTI lost 2.30% to 16.12 dollars.
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Oil prices were down slightly on Friday after an Asian session in the green, investors calmed the game after a hard week for the black gold market.
At around 09.50 GMT (11.50 CET), a barrel of Brent North Sea crude for June delivery was worth 21.08 dollars in London, down 1.17% from Thursday’s close.
In New York, the American barrel of WTI for June lost 2.30%, to 16.12 dollars.
The day before, the latter had climbed about 20% after several very hectic days, marked by a close below zero dollar Monday for the first time in its history.
“Prices are stabilizing,” said Naeem Aslam, analyst at Avatrade, on Friday. But a stable market does not mean a return to normal, observes his colleague Eugen Weinber, of Commerzbank.
The rough patch that the crude market is going through “is far from over,” he added. “There are many risks regarding the demand and the availability of stocks. On the supply side, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies still have a long way to go to convince the market. “
Tensions between Washington and Tehran had, however, helped to boost prices over the past two days, after a tweet from President Donald Trump claiming that he had given orders to “destroy” any Iranian boat that would dangerously approach American ships in the Gulf. .
But “nothing has changed in terms of supply and demand,” says Aslam, and his imbalance is still very negative for prices.
Rystad Energy analysts, who updated their forecasts for annual oil demand on Thursday, illustrate the dizzying fall in demand with lows of 26.7% and 19.5% in April and May compared to the same months. last year, due to containment measures put in place to stem the Covid-19 epidemic and which paralyze the world economy.
“The current economic shock is clearly beyond what even the most pessimistic forecasters feared,” added Stephen Brennock of PVM.
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