Good news from the markets: Oil prices are the lowest since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the EU has almost full gas reservoirs – Topky.sk

The price of Brent North Sea crude for delivery in October reached USD 93.53 (EUR 91.87) per barrel by 6:41 p.m. CET. Compared to the previous close, this means a decrease of USD 3.25 (3.36%). During trading, it reached as low as USD 93.50/barrel, marking the lowest Brent price since February 21, three days before Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which led to a sharp increase in commodity prices. The price of US WTI light oil with the September contract fell by USD 2.88 (3.18%) to USD 87.78/barrel. This marks the lowest WTI price since February 3. ARCHIVE VIDEO The EU does not allow a reduction in VAT on motor fuels, we cannot agree with the SaS proposal, said Matovič High growth of oil and gasoline stocks in the USA Oil prices were affected by an unexpectedly high growth of oil and gasoline stocks in the USA, as well as growing fears of a recession, which would mean a reduction demand for raw materials. On Wednesday (August 3), the US Department of Energy reported a sharp increase in oil and gasoline stocks. It said U.S. crude inventories rose by 4.5 million barrels last week. Analysts expected a decrease of 600,000 barrels. The situation in the area of ​​gasoline stocks developed similarly, under which weaker demand was signed. While analysts expected a drop in inventories of 1.6 million barrels, gasoline stocks rose by 200,000 barrels. Photo gallery (3) Source: Getty Images Oil prices were not supported even by Thursday’s information about a significant increase in the main interest rate in Britain. The Bank of England’s (BoE) monetary policy committee raised its key interest rate by as much as 50 basis points, the sharpest since 1995. But the BoE’s move, which is behind efforts to ease high inflation, may slow economic activity and weaken demand for oil. The EU is moving towards the goal of filling up gas reservoirs European countries are on the way to achieving the goal in the area of ​​filling up gas reservoirs before the approaching winter, but the costs could be 10 times higher than usual. TASR informs about it based on a Reuters report. The European Union plans to fill gas storage tanks to 80% capacity by November 1. Based on data published on Thursday by Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE), European storage tanks were filled to 70.54% of capacity as of Tuesday (2/8), exceeding the 5-year average of 70.32% of capacity. Moreover, the published occupancy level was not too far from the 10-year average of 71.40%. ARCHIVE VIDEO Richard Sulík on exceptions for Slovakia within the EU agreement on gas savings However, the costs could be 10 times higher than usual. . November,” said Jacob Mandel of Aurora Energy Research. Increased imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) contributed to this. As the ICIS consulting company reported, the European Union imported 21.36 million tons of LNG in the first half of this year, while for the same period last year, the import of this commodity amounted to 8.21 million tons. The breakthrough month was June, when for the first time in history the EU imported more LNG from the United States than gas via pipelines from Russia. Photo gallery (3) Source: Gettyimages.com However, the cost of filling the reservoirs to the required level will be high. As Reuters reported, citing analysts’ estimates, the cost of replenishing stocks could exceed 50 billion euros, which is 10 times more than the historical average cost of filling storage tanks for the winter. As UBS oil market analyst Giovanni Staunovo said, “Europe is still dependent on two things – how harsh the winter will be and how Russian gas flows will develop by spring. Uncertainty in either case, despite increasing inventories, will be with great likely to keep prices high.” It was also reflected at our pumps In the 30th week of 2022, compared to the 29th week of 2022, the prices of 95-octane gasoline decreased by 0.004 euros or 0.22% to 1.829 euros, 98-octane gasoline by 0.001 euros or 0, 05% to 2.031 euros, as well as diesel by 0.003 euros or 0.16% to 1.861 euros. As the Statistical Office (ŠÚ) of the Slovak Republic further informed on Friday, the prices of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) remained unchanged. They remained at the level of 0.891 euros, 1.999 euros, and 2.862 euros, respectively.