Oil Prices Rise On Falling Inventories And Geopolitical Tensions

The U.S. Department of Energy released its "Short-Term Energy Outlook" (STEO) monthly report on February 8, saying that inventories in the international oil market continued to decline, which may keep oil prices at higher levels. At the end of January, OECD commercial oil inventories fell to 2.68 billion barrels, the lowest level since mid-2014, the report said. Inventories are also expected to continue falling this year, following an average drawdown of 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in global oil inventories in 2021, which could keep oil prices close to $90 a barrel. The report said that just as market concerns about the new coronavirus variant Omicron (Omicron) have subsided, geopolitical tensions including Ukraine have risen sharply, driving oil prices; Inventories in the city are lower and the market will also be more sensitive to possible supply concerns. In view of this, this month's report raised the average price forecast for West Texas crude oil in 2022 by $8 from the previous month to $79.35 a barrel, and the average price of Brent crude oil also increased by $7.9 from the previous month to $82.87 a barrel.