Oil prices in global markets rose again last week, marking the fourth consecutive week of increases, as investors hope that the world’s largest producers will soon cut production.
On the London market, the price of a barrel on Friday was $41.20, which is 2 percent higher than a week earlier. On the American market, the price of a barrel also increased by 2 percent last week, reaching $39.44.
The rise in prices is attributed to investors’ hopes that at the April meeting, some of the largest producers of ‘black gold’ – from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), as well as non-member countries – will freeze production at January levels. The increase in oil prices is also due to the weakening of the dollar, which has fallen by more than 3 percent against a basket of six major world currencies over the past three weeks.
The dollar’s weakening is a result of the message from the U.S. central bank that it will slow the pace of increases in key interest rates, meaning that the period of cheap money will continue for some time.
As a result, on Thursday, oil prices reached their highest levels this year – $42.54 on the London market and $41.20 on the American market.
However, on Friday, prices came under pressure after Baker Hughes reported that the number of rigs in the U.S. increased by one last week, marking the first increase after 12 consecutive weeks of decline.
Additionally, data showed that despite strong growth in fuel consumption, oil inventories in the U.S. rose last week, indicating that production continues to exceed demand.
For this reason, some analysts believe that oil prices have risen too quickly and that a decline may follow.
