Brent crude oil increased in price for the week. On Monday, quotes touched $ 59.50 per barrel, and shortly after, they stormed to $ 62.00. However, to no avail. At the time of writing, the cost of oil quickly dropped $ 0.50 and is equal to $ 61.50. Bulls have not managed to break through the zone of $ 62-63, for a long time, though all the prerequisites for this are present.
Looking at the first results of 2019, Brent oil showed almost 15% growth in January, and WTI - more than 18%. Undoubtedly, such success in itself will push further growth.
The fundamental news background is generally positive-neutral. OPEC is doing quite well with its new regulatory policy, data on the extraction of the cartel will be published on February 12th. The sanctions against Venezuelan are already evident in the market.
The index of business activity in the manufacturing sector in China showed the worst results in over 3 years today. The market reacted poorly to this news, as well as to the recent reserves of crude oil in US oil storage facilities. Meanwhile, Beijing and Washington brought their positions closer during the last round of trade negotiations, but until the personal meeting of the heads of the two superpowers takes place, the conflict will not be fully resolved.
So far, everything indicates the growth of prices in the medium term. In the current scenario, it is necessary to remember that drilling US oil is unprofitable and something that is not profitable does not often continue to occur.