SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Oil prices extended gains on Wednesday, after a move by the United States and other consumer countries to release tens of millions of barrels of oil from reserves to try to cool the market fell short of some expectations.
Brent crude futures rose 19 cents to $82.50 a barrel at 0553 GMT, having risen 3.3% on Tuesday.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures jumped 31 cents to $78.81 per barrel, following a 2.3% gain in the previous day.
The United States said on Tuesday it would release millions of barrels of oil from strategic reserves in coordination with China, India, South Korea, Japan and Britain, to try to coo prices after OPEC+ producers repeatedly ignored calls for more crude.
But analysts said the effect on prices was likely to be short-lived after years of declining investment and a strong global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, according to Reuters.
President Joe Biden’s administration said it would release 50 million barrels from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), which will start hitting the market in mid to late December.
“The coordinated SPR release was smaller-than-expected and undoubtedly will be met by less production from OPEC+,” Reuters cited Edward Moya, senior market analysts at OANDA, as saying.
Moya said, “No one would be surprised if [OPEC+] scaled down their production plans.”
