Oil prices continued to slide on Wednesday as fears of a wider Middle East crisis receded, although the risk of a further escalation has not subsided, not least as Israel continues its war against Hamas in Gaza. , prompting backlash from pro-Palestinian organizations supported by Iran.
Crude prices, in fact, came under additional pressure today as a slowdown in business activity in the US again fueled concerns about a slowdown in demand, although a drop in US inventories did not allow crude to slide significantly lower.
It is noted that according to the data announced yesterday by S&P Global, business activity in the US fell in April to a four-month low, with the composite PMI, during the preliminary measurement, slipping to 50.9 points from 52.1 units that were in March.
Meanwhile, US inventories fell by 6.4 million barrels to 453.6 million barrels in the week ended April 19, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), in contrast to analysts’ estimates for an increase of 825,000 barrels.
Thus, West Texas Intermediate crude futures for delivery next month fell 55 cents, or 0.66%, on Wednesday to settle at $82.81 a barrel.
Accordingly, Brent crude for May delivery lost 40 cents, or 0.45%, to settle at $88.02 a barrel.
The analysts of Goldman Sachs, in fact, estimate that the apparent de-escalation of the tension between Israel and Iran could reduce the price of oil by an additional 5-10 dollars per barrel in the coming months, setting in particular for Brent the ” ceiling” at 90 dollars a barrel.
