Daily Times

Global crude oil prices edged lower on Wednesday after gaining around 2.3 percent in the last session. At 1040 hours GMT, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, shed $0.10 (-0.12 percent) to reach $82.21 a barrel. Similarly, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price reached $78.45 a barrel, down by $0.05 (-0.06 percent).

The price for Opec Basket was recorded at $78.90 a barrel with a decrease of 1.42 percent, Arab Light was available at $78.93 with 3.83 percent decrease, and the price of Russian Sokol slipped to $80.74 with a decrease of 3.74 percent.

According to experts, coordinated efforts by oil-consuming countries, including the United States, China, India, South Korea, Japan and Britain, to lower crude prices prompted fresh selling. The countries announced to release millions of barrels of oil from their strategic reserves in an attempt to bring crude oil prices down after OPEC+ producers repeatedly ignored calls for increasing supply.

“We will sell part of our reserves and take other measures to stabilize oil prices,” Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters on Wednesday. He did not specify the volume of reserves that will be released. However, according to media reports, the government may sell around 4.2 million barrels. The official stressed that the decision to sell oil reserves “was made in accordance with a similar decision by the US authorities, with which Japan is cooperating to stabilise the global oil market.”

Again, profit-taking ahead of the thanksgiving week holiday in the US as well as concerns over slower demand in Europe amid a resurgence in the Covid-19 pandemic also weighed on sentiment. The latest surge in Covid cases in Europe and the US evoked new concerns over weakening demand.