The ‘Brent’ barrel is heading back to 100 dollars, waiting for the OPEC meeting

From the maximum reached by the barrel of Brent on March 8 above 130.2 dollars, the price of oil has ranged between 100 and 120. If the war and the pressure of inflation have boosted prices, the outbreaks of Covid have threatened economic recovery and global consumption, as can be seen in the evolution of crude oil since China began the partial confinement of the city of Shanghai by another wave of coronavirus.

Thus, since last Monday the Brent has cut its value by 9.4% up to 108 dollars per barrel at the close of the European markets, while the possible advances in the peace negotiations in Ukraine also help to moderate prices.

Without the barrels produced in Russia, due to the sanctions derived from the war, world demand exacerbates these variations in price without it appearing that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is going to do anything about it. OPEC has scheduled a meeting on Thursday 31 to review your oil pumping plans although no changes are expected in its roadmap to stop the escalation in oil prices, as has been suggested in recent statements by the energy ministers of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, core members of the cartel.

In this way, the ING analysts, Warren Patterson and Wenyu Yao, consider that it is taken for granted that OPEC will maintain the policy it has applied in previous months for April: a increase of 400,000 barrels per day. The cartel’s oil producers say they have felt “stinking” in recent years and that now everyone comes to them as “if we were superheroes”, said the UAE’s Minister of Energy, Suhail al-Mazrouei, so that overnight increase their production and “quench the global thirst for oil”.

Thus, from OPEC they hide behind the fact that the confinements in China will generate volatility and that this will bring about a drop in prices per se at the same time that the UAE minister has valued Russia’s position as a member of OPEC + and that its volume of crude oil pumping is irreplaceable since it is the producer of 10% of global crude oilwithout going into politics.