Oil Rises, Affected by Investors’ Doubts

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, extending gains from the previous day as investors remained skeptical about the effectiveness of a US-led move to draw down strategic oil reserves and shifted their focus to the next step for oil producers.

Brent crude futures rose 13 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $ 82.44 a barrel, after jumping 3.3 percent on Tuesday.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 20 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $78.70 a barrel. It had recorded an increase of 2.3 percent the previous day.

On Tuesday, the United States said it would withdraw 2 million barrels of oil from strategic reserves in coordination with China, India, South Korea, Japan, and Britain, in an attempt to lower prices after OPEC+ oil producers ignored repeated calls for them to pump more crude.

Analysts said that the impact of a coordinated withdrawal of reserves on prices will likely be short-lived, after years of declining investments and a strong global recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

All eyes are now turning to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, led by Russia, or the bloc known as OPEC+, to know their reaction to the joint withdrawal from the reserves at their meeting, which takes place on the second of December to discuss production policy.