Oil prices closed slightly higher on Wednesday, reacting to the announcement of the suspension of deliveries of Russian gas to Bulgaria and Poland and the disclosure of US crude oil reserves.
A barrel of Brent for June delivery rose 0.31% to trade at $105.32. WTI for the same month rose to $102.02 a barrel.
“Crude oil has fluctuated between losses and gains after Russia cut off the flow of natural gas to Poland and Bulgaria, which exacerbated the energy crisis in Europe,” said Bart Melek of TD Securities. “This action puts new upward pressure on oil and gas prices,” summarized Susannah Streeter, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Crude oil prices changed trend halfway through the day, when European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen assured that Bulgaria and Poland would be supplied “by their neighbors in the European Union”, which calmed the market.
