Fears that the conflict in Russia could escalate and lead to new sanctions against Moscow has contributed to the price of Brent crude oil rising. The possible extension of sectoral sanctions against Russia to energy exports continues to panic the market.
Oil prices registered yesterday their first raise in three weeks in which the prices of black gold experienced an unprecedented decline. Brent oil rose 1.5% to $102.55 a barrel, while US crude rose 1.3% to $97.49 a barrel.
The US and its allies panic in the market
Although this increase is rather modest and probably temporary, it is a positive indicator given the impact caused by the announcement by the main consumer countries of their intention to release 120 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves. A decision taken as an emergency measure to address market shortages, a direct cause of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
For example, the United States has pledged to bring at least 180 million barrels to the market, while the other IEA member states have committed to 60 million or 240 million barrels in total.
As a reminder, the two crudes recorded a record drop of more than 5% last March. Looking at the near term outlook, the market remains fairly balanced, with an upward trend following recent events of bearish delivery reports, geopolitical tensions and possible EU oil sanctions against Russia.
Algeria goes into overdrive
Given this situation, Algeria will need to increase its crude oil production by 11,000 barrels per day in May to reach 1 million barrels per day, according to Energy Minister Mohamed Arkab at the end of the 27th OPEC+ ministerial meeting,” and the 39th meeting of the Interdepartmental Monitoring Commission under this organization, which was held via videoconference. This pending the next meeting on May 5 to examine the evolution of the world oil market.
Sonatrach is therefore working hard to achieve its objectives in the areas of: production of hydrocarbons† A strategy based largely on a program of geographical diversification of exploration and exploitation sites, especially in the Sahara Basin, and on the development of new fields to be explored.
With this in mind, Sonatrach recently announced the discovery of a new major one billion barrel hydrocarbon deposit at the Touggourt exploration well. This is the biggest discovery in Algeria since 2003.
