Brent is trading in the corridor of $82.5-83.5 per barrel

On Thursday, Brent oil quotes are trading in a narrow corridor of $82.50-83.50 per barrel after three days of decline. The current price of the variety is $82.70. The cost of North American WTI oil is located near $78.60 per barrel. 

Yesterday's ambiguous statistics from the EIA had an impact on the market. Last week, commercial oil reserves in the United States decreased by 6.13 million barrels. This exceeded the expectations of analysts who predicted a decrease in oil reserves by 3 million barrels.

At the same time, gasoline reserves increased by 1.47 million barrels, and distillates – by 945 thousand barrels. Experts' forecasts suggested a reduction in gasoline reserves by 481 thousand barrels and an increase in distillates by 698 thousand barrels.

Stocks at the terminal in Cushing, where oil intended for trading on the NYMEX is stored, decreased by 3.13 million barrels after a decrease of 837 thousand barrels a week earlier.

At the same time, production for the third week in a row has been updating the maximum since March 2020: it increased by another 100 thousand barrels per day, to the level of 12.8 million b/d.

Pressure on oil prices has also recently been exerted by signs of improving US relations with Venezuela and the growth of Iran's exports, which may lead to an increase in the supply of oil on the world market. The Biden administration is in talks with Venezuela to explore the possibility of easing sanctions that prevent oil sales. And the observed exports from Iran this month increased to more than 2 million b/d.