The price of American WTI crude rose above $85 per barrel for the first time since October 2014, according to trading data, Report informs.
As of 4:24 pm (GMT+4), the price of January futures for Brent crude oil rose by 1.11% to $85.59 per barrel, while the price of December futures for WTI crude grew 1.52% to $85.03 per barrel.
Some members of the OPEC+ deal, led by Saudi Arabia, have previously stressed the need to be careful about the pace of fuel production increases. According to experts, it was these statements that caused the rise in prices.
Due to the drop in oil demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic, OPEC+ has cut its production by 9.7 million barrels per day since May last year. As the situation stabilized, the terms of the agreement were adjusted. Since August 2021, the alliance has been increasing production by 400,000 barrels daily per month, hoping to gradually withdraw from fulfilling its commitments by the end of September 2022.
According to Goldman Sachs, global demand for this type of fuel has already reached 99 million barrels per day, and will soon return to the pre-COVID level of 100 million, as most of the Asian consumers are already recovering from the Delta strain.