World oil prices rose slightly on Wednesday morning in anticipation that the US Federal Reserve System (FRS) will raise the discount rate, Report informs.
The price of April futures for Brent crude rose by 0.27% to $85.69 per barrel, and March futures for WTI went up by 0.41% to $79.19.
According to the CME Group, almost 98% of experts expect the US refinancing rate to increase by 0.25 percentage points from February to 4.5-4.75% per annum. Given the previous increases at a significant pace, this may mean some softening of the Fed's position on monetary policy, which is regarded positively for commodity and financial markets.
Traders are awaiting the decisions to be made at the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC). JMMC meetings are held every two months, and the meetings of all OPEC+ representatives are organized once every six months. The upcoming events are scheduled for February 1 and June 4, respectively. For now, bidders expect the committee to recommend that the alliance maintain its current level of oil production.