The price of Texas intermediate oil (WTI) opened this Thursday with an increase of 0.31%, at $76.88 per barrel, in a week of little movement in the price
At 9:02 local time (14:02 GMT), WTI futures contracts for delivery in March added 24 cents compared to the close of the previous session, fluctuating in the previous minutes between green and red.
The factor that may weigh the most in these opening moments is the data known today about the International Energy Agency (IEA)which indicate that global oil demand will slow down this year, with a projected growth of 1.2 million barrels per day compared to an increase of 2.3 million in 2023.
Last year ended with an average demand of 101.8 million barrels per day and in 2024 it is expected to reach 103 million, the IEA said in its monthly report on the oil market.
This trend of lower demand growth this year follows the slowdown already recorded in the fourth quarter of last year.
But the downward pressure that the IEA forecasts may pose is offset to a certain extent by geopolitical tensions, according to the MarketWatch portal.
In Gaza, while everyone awaits the assault on the city of Rafah by Israelthe fighting also intensifies on the border between Israel y Lebanonwhere eleven Lebanese civilians were killed yesterday by Israeli fire, the highest number of victims in recent months in this area.
This border area is experiencing its highest peak of tension since 2006, with an intense exchange of fire for more than four months that has claimed the lives of at least 278 people, the majority on the Lebanese side and in the ranks of Hezbollah, which has confirmed some 199 casualties in its ranks, some of them in Syria. EFE (I)
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