Brent crude ends February rising above $83

Oil prices are rising on Tuesday, ending February above the level of $83 per barrel. The current Brent quote is $83.40 per barrel, North American WTI oil is trading near the level of $76.80. 

At the same time, oil prices end the month with a decline. In total, since the beginning of February, Brent has fallen by 2.5%, WTI – by 4%. The oil market ends in the red for the fourth month in a row against the backdrop of tightening monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve, as well as against the background of growing oil reserves in the country with an insufficiently rapid recovery in demand in China.

Analysts note that data from China signal an increase in mobility in the country after the lifting of quarantine restrictions, but the market needs more specific signals of a rise in business activity.

An additional medium-term factor that exerts downward pressure on commodity markets is the monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve System. The signals of the stability of inflation in the States speak in favor of a further rise in the Fed's base rate and its long-term preservation at a level that will restrain economic activity. 

Meanwhile, US oil reserves are at their highest since May 2021. Stocks at the terminal in Cushing, where NYMEX-traded oil is stored, rose for the eighth week in a row and reached the highest level since June 2021. Experts do not rule out that oil prices may rise above $100 per barrel later this year amid record demand growth in the second half of the year.