The volume of US strategic reserves fell by five million barrels last week, the US Department of Energy said. The price of oil has been rising for several days in a row and earlier this week it was close to the $116 per barrel mark.
Consequence of Joe Biden’s decision
The United States now has 538 million barrels of oil in storage, the lowest level since 1987, the U.S. Department of Energy said. This is a consequence of the decision of US President Joe Biden, who released a huge amount of oil into the market in order to reduce its price. Expensive oil has been contributing to accelerating inflation for many months, which has reached the highest levels in the US in 40 years.
Further price increase
But this measure seems to have helped only in the short term. Brent crude was trading at nearly $116 a barrel earlier this week, and North American WTI crude was also rising. Its price climbed by a quarter to just under $114 a barrel.
Analysts are concerned that low US storage will lead to further price increases for black gold on the global market. The price of oil is also being pushed up by looming uncertainty over the possible imposition of an embargo on Russian oil by the European Union.
