Oil prices continued to rise after reaching highs the day before

Oil quotes continued to remain stable on Thursday after rising to three-month highs the day before ($124.40). The current price of Brent is $123.41 per barrel. 

The market continues to analyze statistical data on the volume of raw materials stocks in the United States and on China's foreign trade for May. The volume of Chinese exports jumped by 16.9% year-on-year last month amid the lifting of many covid restrictions in the country.

Yesterday, the US Department of Energy reported an unexpected increase in oil reserves in the country by 2.02 million barrels to 416.76 million barrels. It is clarified that this is due to an increase in imports to the country to 1.9 million barrels per day (against 0.08 million barrels a week earlier). 

At the same time, gasoline reserves decreased by 812 thousand barrels and amounted to 218.18 million barrels. The drop in gasoline stocks was a consequence of the beginning of the automobile season in the United States, when demand for fuel is traditionally high.

Fuel consumption in the country in the reporting week exceeded 20 million barrels per day (and for the same period, these are the highs from the pre-2019 year). 

In general, the confirmation of high demand and low inventory levels reinforced investors' confidence in maintaining the deficit and were able to push oil quotes up. Some analysts predict that once fixed above the level of $120 per barrel, oil will be able to go higher – with a target in the area of $130-135 per barrel.