During the last week, prices of oil surpassed the threshold of US $ 80. Thus confirming an upward trend that has been registered for months.
The pandemic COVID-19 caused oil costs to drop throughout 2020 and much of this year.
Just a year ago, the WTI cost just US $ 40 so filling the fuel tank was not a matter of concern. Months later, the impact of the economic recovery has hit thousands of motorists hard.
ONP:
What is behind this unsustainable rise?
The answer to this question, according to the experts consulted by the BBC Mundo, includes not only traditional factors -such as the performance of the OPEC countries or conjunctural ones-, but also a whole new strategy of the oil-producing companies in the United States. .
Currently, the cartel and its allies, led by Russia, maintain an agreement to gradually increase the supply, adding an additional 400,000 barrels per day each month.
Mark Finley, an energy and oil researcher at Rice University’s Baker Institute Center for Energy Studies, explained that the recovery from the 2020 crash has influenced both the demand and supply of oil.
“That is the main factor. On the demand side, we are seeing a reactivation of the economy and mobility after the impact of COVID-19. After having experienced the largest drop in oil demand last year, this year we will probably register the largest increase we have seen, ”he says.
“On the supply side, there is a combination of deliberate production cuts agreed to by OPEC and other non-OPEC producers like Russia. (There is) a drop in production in the United States and elsewhere due to the low prices of a barrel last year, “he added.
Another novel element that has contributed to the increase in the price of black gold is the containment shown by oil producers in the United States.
This is an unusual strategy, in which they used to rush to increase production whenever crude prices were favorable.
“One of the surprising stories this year, in the oil market, has been that producers in the United States have been very disciplined and have not responded to the increase in prices with a drastic increase in oil extraction,” says Finley.
“There has been an increase, but it is not even remotely close to where it was before the pandemic when, by the way, prices were lower than they are now. That has been a big change ”, he adds.
According to data from the oil services company Baker Hughes, last week, there were about 533 operating rigs in the United States, which represents an increase of 233 compared to a year ago. However, this figure is lower than the 1,580 that were active the last time crude reached these prices, in October 2014.
Currently, around 65% of US production is shale oil, according to figures from the US Energy Administration.
The problems in the supply chain and the increase in the prices of raw materials are also other reasons, which are leading to a relative shortage of certain types of products that is fueling inflationary pressures, to which now is added the increase in the price of crude oil.
“The increase in the price of oil contributes to a rise in inflation, since oil is a raw material for many products, mainly for gasoline and diesel, which is a fuel for transportation, but is also used, in many cases, for electricity generation, ”says José Valera, lawyer and oil expert at the Mayor Brown law firm in Houston (Texas).
With information from BBC Mundo.
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